What Is A Franchise Directory?

If you are searching the web for franchise opportunities then most certainly you are coming across your fair share of franchise directories. There's lots of them - so of them great, some of them not so great. Besides explaining what a franchise directory is and why we exist, I'll also point out some things to look for in a good directory and some things to watch out for in the bad ones! Lastly, I'm going to explain some things that franchise directories simply are not - no matter how great and why it's wise to let these guides be only your starting point in finding your perfect franchise.

What Is A Franchise Directory and Why Does It Exist?

Obviously, a franchise directory is a site that contains information about various franchise opportunities. Why do they exist? To make money. Not only can the franchising business be a bit confusing and overwhelming, there's a great deal of marketing dollars spent by these franchises to get in front of qualified prospects and successfully develop new territories. Some franchise directories sell advertising, some sell leads while others actually place prospects with franchises and get paid commissions by the franchises. Some directories do a combination of all three.

What's A Good Franchise Directory vs. A Bad One?

1. Does it offer a large number of franchises?

With so many franchises to choose form these days it's not easy for any single site to list them all, but at the same time, you need to know you are seeing a good representation of what's available. Some franchise directories will only list a franchise IF they pay which leaves them with a limited number of franchises to show you. You want a franchise directory with a lot of franchises listed to research.

2. Is it well organized and easy to navigate?

Some franchise directories get too caught up in banner rotation and aggressive advertising "made you click" tricks that they seem to forget why they exist in the first place. They are a research tool! If a franchise directory is not easy to use and navigate then it's hardly serving its fundamental purpose.

3. Where are Your Info Requests Going?

Beware, not all franchise directories actually deliver your info requests to the party they lead you to believe. Some directories sell your request to the highest bidder regardless of who you requested info on. Others will sell a copy of your request to anyone who's willing to pay for it - no matter if that includes the franchise you request info on or not! That's pretty crooked stuff if you ask us. When you submit a request at Franchise USA - it is ALWAYS delivered directory to the franchise, immediately. In some cases where a franchise chooses not to handle their requests exclusively, it's shared with ONE single qualified franchise consultant. Never anyone else.

Use Your Franchise Directory - Don't Let It Use You!

What Franchise Directories Are NOT

Franchise directories are probably the best starting point for anyone doing franchise research, but we stress that it's just a starting point. While we can list data on franchise after franchise, it's impossible for any web site to truly get a sense of your personality and help you find not only types of business, but types of "organizations" that you would enjoy working with. Just like you have a personality - so do most franchises. In addition, it's hard for a franchise directory to give you any sort of "inside scoop" on things like territories a particular franchise is keen on, turn over rates and other critical inside information. For this reason we suggest also considering speaking with or at least emailing with a franchise consultant to get the inside scoop on your desired territories. To speak with some of the best consultants in the industry at no cost nor obligation to you whatsoever please use our free Franchise Match service.

In Summary...

Obviously we're biased , but we've built FranchiseUSA.Net to create a perfect balance of "research tool" for interested investors and "marketing tool" for aggressive franchises. We welcome any legitimate franchise to be listed in our site at no charge and will always immediately deliver any info request that is generated for that franchise. To our visitors - we don't like spam nor having our privacy taken advantage of any more than you do - so we don't do it. Yes we exist to make money but our goals are long term and long term we believe that to be the best franchise directory out there all we have to do is give our visitors and our franchises exactly what they want. Nothing more, nothing less.

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