which franchises look like they could be quite profitable?

Answer 1

It all depends on how much up front cost you want to put out. There are lots of opportunities with multilevel marketing where the intial cost is way lower and the pay outs are big as long as you work at it. BE CAREFUL though when getting involved with certain multilevel marketing companies many individuals are out there only for themselves rather than helping others. I myself am involved with a company called Forever Green whose mission is to help one person at a time. They even donate half of their company profits to helping homeless families in Porto Rico. I am having great success with them working as a team for the right reasons. If you'd like to check it out. The website for me and my girlfriend is http://myforevergreen.org/wendypiper

Answer 2

The first answer I read here is Curves, personally as a long term gym user, I reckon the concept is a a fade, great if you own the name, but not so great if you're a franchisee. Take a look at businessesforsales.com or bizsalesni.com there's dozens of resales.

That's the big problem with franchises, they make money before you do. Typically you still have to pay them even when you're making a loss, primarily because the royalities, subsidies or whatever they care to call them are so high.

As far as I'm concerned (from the prespective of a qualified accountant and twice business owner) Franchisors are out to make a quick buck and nothing else. Don't pay for a name that means nothing. Something like McDonalds, clearly you can't compete, so you need to swim with the enemy, but unknowns like 'Blindsdirect', 'Waterless' etc. etc. don't waste your time.

Just as a point of reference, I set up a SMART repair business serveral years ago which I sold for a profit, this is identical to 'Chipsaway', 'Beaverscreens' and the like, I was able to do it for £50,000 below the 'Chipsaway' budget - don't be fooled.

At the tender age of 23, I personally refuse to go through the agonies of another startup. I recommend that you take you're startup fund, leverage it with whatever finance you can raise (Family & friends, equity release, loans) and buy an established buisness with an established customer base. All you really want to do is change the bank account that the profits are paid into.

Answer 3

Any franchise or business can be profitable if:
It is in the right location and if the operator is doing a good job.
(Within the same franchise group you will find success stories and failures - so there's more to it than just the franchise as such)
What are your interests or experience, etc, etc.
You need to do quite a bit of homework, but the site listed below can give you a lot of information on franchises.
Good luck!

Answer 4

I've heard the Curves franchise is a promising one, with low entry costs.