A Surprising Number of Franchise Prospects Already Own Businesses
By: Michael Alston for Franchise Insights
November 19, 2025 – In almost six years of monthly surveys, the data show that 15-25% of franchise prospects already own at least one business. That percentage has varied month-to-month over this time span, but consistently represents a significant slice of aspiring candidates to franchise ownership.
The “word cloud” graphic above illustrates the variety of businesses owned by survey respondents from the period June-October 2025. They range from retail sales (flooring, tires, generators) and services (CPA, tax, legal, barber, lawn care, real estate) to restaurants and cleaning, and to several business services like food service equipment, trucking, and small business consulting. They are as disparate as holistic and wellness and dog breeding. Online businesses include a children’ s bookstore, a trading platform and an internet services provider. The variety represented here is a reflection of the breadth of choices in the franchise industry itself.
We don’t know exactly why these individuals are also seeking franchises, but they may be pursuing a desire to upgrade or complement their existing businesses, supplement income, or find more lucrative ventures. The motivations for business ownership have been very consistent over time.
In the same June to October 2025 survey period, 21.5% of respondents said they were current business owners. About 83.3% said they owned non-franchise businesses, and 11.1% said they were operating “business or licensing opportunities” already.
Of the 5.6% who already owned franchises, linen supply, automotive dealership and travel and tourism businesses were represented, among others.
The “Mystery Shopping” and Startup Sentiment Index™ surveys of franchise inquirers from which we collect this data are conducted monthly on the Franchise Ventures lead generation platform. This survey was conducted June-October 2025.
Franchise Ventures is the leading franchise lead-generation platform for potential franchisees to thousands of growing franchise systems in the United States and Canada. Its franchise lead generation brands include Franchise.com, Franchise Solutions, Franchise Gator, Franchise Opportunities, Franchise For Sale, SmallBusinessStartup.com and BusinessBroker.net, and together they provide the largest aggregation of prospective franchise buyers in the U.S.
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Published on Wednesday, November 19th, 2025.