June 24, 2026 – Since our last review of expected business startup funding sources, many of the smaller categories changed by a few percentage points. But while maintaining their rank order, two of the top three sources – personal savings and SBA loans – dropped in the range of ten percentage points each.
June 17, 2026 – Since our last review of preferred initial contact channels in July 2025, more franchise prospects are saying they prefer a phone call for initial contact, and marginally fewer franchise prospects have been indicating that they preferred to be emailed first by a franchise they have expressed interest in. This preference is seen in surveys from January to May 2026 by Franchise Insights.
June 3, 2026 – After three strong months of improving sentiment, it dipped some in May 2026 as business buyer surveys showed that 52.2% of persons exploring ownership agree or strongly agree that “now is a good time for startup”, down from 62.2% in April.
May 27, 2026 – In a surprising contrast with surveys of the general public about their broad use of AI, franchise prospects are more dependent on traditional tools for researching franchises of interest.
May 20, 2026 – Along with the rest of consumers, persons searching for businesses have now had more than two years of experience with Google’s AI Overviews along with chatbots and AI-enhanced browsers. How might this have changed the process of finding the right franchise and thereby franchise lead generation? There may be clues in the preferences of the general population for chat over traditional search.
May 13, 2026 – Now that first quarter earnings reports from Google and Meta are behind us, there are a few hints about how the franchise lead generation ecosystem is changing. One insight is that franchise development teams have embraced Google AI Ad Tools ahead of Google’s advertiser base.
May 6, 2026 – Startup sentiment was strong for the third consecutive month in April 2026 as business buyer surveys showed that 62.2% of persons exploring ownership agree or strongly agree that “now is a good time for startup”, up from a recent low of 30% in December 2025.
April 29, 2026 — For anyone who found the series of articles on the 2026 Franchise Development Lead Generation survey too long to consume, or missed some, we are providing a very brief summary with references to the sources for deeper inquiry.
April 22, 2026 – In the March 2026 Small Business Startup Sentiment survey, 58.5% of respondents cited Grit, or “persistence towards a goal despite obstacles” as a strength that emboldens them to pursue business ownership. Also, 55.4% also attested to their “willingness to follow a proven system”, an essential ingredient for succeeding at franchise ownership.
April 15, 2026 – In the first three months of 2026, only 40.2% of individuals submitting inquiries to franchises said they were contacted within seven days by all of the (one or more) franchises they expressed interest in via an inquiry form. These results were from surveys conducted by FranchiseInsights.com from January through March 2026.
March 8, 2026 – Startup sentiment rebounded for the second consecutive month in March 2026 surveys as business buyer surveys showed that 64.0% of persons exploring ownership agree or strongly agree that “now is a good time for startup”, up from a recent low of 30% in December.
April 1, 2026 – The 2026 Franchise Development Lead Generation Survey showed that more than 88% of franchise brands surveyed will be using at least one AI tool for lead generation by the end of 2026. But what are prospects themselves thinking will be the impact of artificial intelligence on their path to business ownership? The Franchise Insights Small Business Startup Sentiment Index™ (SSI) survey completed the last week in March revealed that two thirds of respondents believe AI will have an impact on their interest in business ownership (34% said there would be “no impact”).
March 25, 2026 – Looking back at usage rates of the top franchise development lead generation channels from 2022-2026, it is clear that after diversifying supply sources over the last several years, franchise teams have made significant adjustments in view of shocks to the supply ecosystem.
March 18, 2026 – Franchise systems responding to the 2026 Franchise Development Lead Generation Survey reported increased overall spending on lead sources in 2025. When asked about 2026 plans, more than 45% of teams reported increasing budgets for one or more of their chosen sources as they seek to diversify and assure a stream of qualified prospects for franchise growth.
March 11, 2026 – Startup sentiment rebounded in February 2026 surveys as business buyer surveys showed 58.1% of persons exploring ownership agree or strongly agree that “now is a good time for startup”, up from 30% in December.
March 4, 2026 – When asked about 2026 plans, more than 45% of teams reported increasing budgets for one or more of their chosen sources. Franchise directories or “portals” as a category grew in 2025 usage to 74.4% and are expected to grow further in usage to 78.8% in 2026. This difference of 4.4% is the highest absolute growth in usage among the top four source platforms. Among sources surveyed, only Google is expected to decline in usage in 2026.
February 24, 2026 – If you are not using AI tools to enhance your franchise lead generation process, you will be in a small minority by the end of this year according to the 2026 Franchise Development Lead Generation Survey. More than 88% of brands surveyed will be using at least one AI tool by the end of 2026.
February 22, 2026 – Faced with aggressive goals for system growth, increased competition, and technological transformation of lead generation, franchise developers employed AI to gain advantage and lower costs. As evidence, only 11.3% of respondents said they will not be using AI by the end of 2026.
February 18, 2026 – Franchise systems responding to the 2026 Franchise Development Lead Generation Survey reported increased overall spending on lead sources in 2025, along with changes in usage. When asked about 2026 plans, more than 45% reported increasing budgets for one or more of their chosen sources. Among sources surveyed, only Google is expected to decline in usage in 2026.
February 16, 2026 – Most systems responding to the 2026 Franchise Development Lead Generation Survey reported increased spending in 2025, along with changes in usage, where higher costs per lead were a factor for most sources.
February 11, 2026 – When asked about spending changes among the largest sources of prospects in 2025, about 23.3% of franchise development teams already using Meta, Google, franchise directories (portals) or brokers said there was no change in their spending on these sources. On the other hand, 76.7% made tactical changes in their budget allocations.
February 9, 2026 – For lead generation sourcing in 2025, franchise development teams coalesced around four major platforms, after much experimentation in 2024. From the 2026 Franchise Development Lead Generation Sources Survey, however, respondents reported abated experimentation in TikTok, while LinkedIn continued to grow in usage.
February 4, 2026 – Business buyer surveys in the last week of January 2026 showed a record low 30% of persons exploring ownership agree or strongly agree that “now is a good time for startup”, down from 42.9% in December and the lowest in our survey history. Despite their own perceptions of the current business climate, this hearty group of individuals is pursuing dreams of business ownership while others pause.
February 2, 2026 – Some franchises across all size ranges grew beyond expectations in 2025, but the 201-500 unit segment was most active in modifying plans to take advantage of what they saw as opportunistic conditions.
January 27, 2026 – When asked about how business conditions impacted their expansion plans in 2025, 79% of franchise development teams said they either stuck to their plans or expanded them beyond expectations.
January 21, 2026 — An astonishing percentage of prospects who request information on franchise portal websites become a referral visit to a franchisor’s website afterwards. In our December 2025 survey, about 89% of portal lead submitters made post-inquiry visits to the corresponding franchise development websites of their interest. This referral percentage historically ranges from about 65-75% in over six years of monthly data.
January 12, 2026 — When interested buyers submit inquiries at a franchise portal, only a fraction of them end their searches there. The vast majority of prospects who are exposed to and inquire about your brand on these franchise directory sites go on to continue their research while awaiting your response.
December 7, 2025 – Business buyer surveys in the last week of December 2025 showed 42.3% of persons exploring ownership agree or strongly agreed that “now is a good time for startup”, down from 64.3% in November, but in line with 43.9% in October.
December 17, 2025 – This week, we attempt to provide a concise review of the basics of how franchise development teams can get through to interested prospects. A comprehensive action plan is beyond the scope of this article, but we are attempting to provide a “first aid” list of the 20% of suggestions that might yield 80% of the results, by channel.
December 10, 2025 – Despite following best practices for franchise lead generation and nurturing to reach qualified buyers, sales teams face massive interference from the torrent of spam emails, texts and calls directed at anyone with a pulse.
December 3, 2025 – Business buyer surveys in the last week of November 2025 showed 64.3% of persons exploring ownership agree or strongly agreed that “now is a good time for startup”, up dramatically from 43.9% in October.
Understanding return on investment is essential to evaluating franchise lead generation alternatives, given rising costs. According to Franchise Update Magazine, the average cost per franchise lead increased from $155 in 2022 to $251 in 2023, and $271 in 2024.
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.
November 12, 2025 – Individuals seeking business ownership preferred the option to “buy a franchise” over acquiring an existing business by a wide margin in the October 2025 Startup Sentiment survey. While over 60.7% indicated interest in the franchise purchase option, only 41.8% were interested in buying an existing business for sale.
November 5, 2025 – Business buyer surveys in the last week of October 2025 showed 43.9% of persons exploring ownership agree or strongly agreed that “now is a good time for startup”, down significantly from the 84.5% record set in March 2025.
October 28, 2025 — Headlines this week report layoffs at Amazon, UPS, and Paramount, while a government shutdown continues for almost a month. Tens or hundreds of thousands of skilled workers will be looking for better opportunities, with many taking advantage of this opportunity to take control of their destinies and “be their own boss.”
October 22, 2025 – In a year-over-year analysis, interest in franchises migrated southward and selectively eastward according to new data from FranchiseInsights.com. By comparing quarterly shares by state of inquiries about franchises for the third quarter of 2024 to the third quarter of 2025, there were shifts in the mix of where aspiring franchisees were expecting to locate franchises – from north to south, and west to east.
October 15, 2025 – Boomers are retiring in droves, and Gen-X and Gen-Y (Millennials) are the largest cohorts among franchise buyers. One thing they all have in common is the desire to control their own destinies through business ownership.
October 8 2025 – Almost 71% of franchise prospects responding to a monthly sentiment survey see business conditions “about the same” in three months, with another 9.8% seeing them “better” or “much better.”
October 1, 2025 – For the first time, we look at the results by self-reported gender in desired characteristics to discover any differences which might inform both the franchise development sales process and targeted recruitment.
September 24, 2025 – Consistent with over five years of survey data on characteristics that make franchises attractive to individuals, “low cost of entry” and “higher earnings potential” have consistently been ranked most important by individuals seeking business ownership.
September 17, 2025 – While the rankings of many of the categories of expected business startup funding changed over the past year, the top three – personal savings, SBA loans, and banks or other loan providers remained in the same order among the top three.
September 10, 2025 – Over the summer of 2025, only 35-46% of individuals submitting inquiries to franchises said they were contacted by all of the franchises they indicated interest in within seven days, as reported by the FranchiseInsights.com “mystery shopping” surveys from June to August 2025.
August 6, 2025 – Just under 63% of franchise seekers responding to the FranchiseInsights.com August Startup Sentiment survey cited ‘funding or access to credit’ as their greatest concern in launching their startups, the lowest for that measure since September 2024. This is consistent with the expectation of lower rates by consumers in the University of Michigan confidence survey.
August 27, 2025 – After perusing among hundreds of options across multiple categories on franchise directory websites, most individuals narrow their focus and ultimately inquire about only one or two concepts. This franchise buyer behavior has been consistent over more than five years of customer journey analysis of websites and mobile apps.
August 20, 2025 – In the July 2025 Startup Sentiment survey, Grit, or “persistence towards a goal despite obstacles” was cited by 58.5% of respondents. In this survey of individuals seeking franchises, 55.4% also attested to their “willingness to follow a proven system”, an essential ingredient for succeeding at franchise ownership.
By: Michael Alston for Franchise Insights August 27, 2025 – After perusing among hundreds of options across multiple categories on franchise directory websites, most individuals narrow their focus and ultimately inquire about only one or two concepts. This franchise buyer behavior has been consistent over five years of customer journey analysis of websites and mobile …
August 12, 2025 — Since we last wrote about the potential impact of Google’s AI mode on franchise lead generation, Alphabet reported earnings for the second quarter of 2025, and shared key metrics to dispel the notion that generative AI was displacing traditional search.
August 6, 2025 – Owners of current businesses were almost 28% of franchise seekers responding to the FranchiseInsights.com July Startup Sentiment survey, beating the previous record of 25.5% July 2021, and following a strong showing last month at 23.9%. The types of businesses owned ranged from import/export, to car repair, restaurants and accounting services.
July 30, 2025 – According to a 2020 study by Pew Research, only 19% of Americans will take a call from a number they are unfamiliar with. In April 2021, Apple launched its “block unknown callers” feature, followed by “live voice mail” in September 2023, which allows recipients to screen unknown calls without picking up.
July 23, 2025 — Most prospects who request information on franchise portal websites become a referral visit to the franchisor’s website afterward. In our most recent surveys from February to June 2025, about 64.3% of portal lead submitters made post-inquiry visits to the corresponding franchise development websites of their interest.
July 16, 2025 — With AI-induced changes to consumer behavior and the search marketing ecosystem, alternate channels of lead referrals become even more essential and valuable. Referred visits to your franchise development website yield informed prospects who demonstrate clear intent – they are aware of your offering, and want to learn more.
July 9, 2025 – For three months, the percentage of entrepreneurs planning their startups within the coming year has reached or exceeded 87%, continuing an uptrend seen since 2023. Of this month’s respondents, 49.3% of entrepreneurs planned their startups within the next three months, down from a recent high of 64.3% in the April survey.
July 2, 2025 – Individuals submitting inquiries about franchises were mostly satisfied with their experiences, according to franchise prospect surveys over the five months ending in June 2025. Almost half (44.4%) said they were either “satisfied “or “very satisfied”, and only 22.2% said they were “unsatisfied or very unsatisfied.”
June 25, 2025 – In the span of surveying aspiring franchise owners for over five years, data show that about 15-20% of 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 for franchise expansion.
June 18, 2025 — Interest in franchise ownership spans all adult ages, but the most likely cohort for taking the leap is around middle age. Self-reported demographics of prospective franchise owners from January through April 2025 show that the most popular ages for exploring business ownership range from the mid-40s up to 60.
June 11, 2025 — Almost exactly a year since we wrote about the introduction of AI Overviews and generative AI to franchise search, Google introduced AI Mode, its generative AI offering to the search experience in browsers and the Gemini app which began rolling out to all U.S. desktop and mobile users on May 20, 2025.
June 4, 2025 – Entrepreneurs seeking business ownership are more inclined to take action today than they were just a month ago. In the May 2025 Small Business Startup Sentiment Index™ survey, 75.9% of respondents said they are “more or much more likely to launch their startups than three months ago,” compared with 57.1% for the same measure in the prior month.
May 29, 2025 – Individuals seeking business ownership preferred the option to “buy a franchise” over acquiring an existing business by a wide margin in the April 2025 Startup Sentiment survey. While over 61% indicated interest in the franchise purchase option, only 39.5% were interested in buying an existing business for sale.
May 20, 2025 — With the growth of chatbots and AI-enabled research, the pathways that lead to discovery of your franchise are certainly changing. Since Google’s launch of AI Overviews just over a year ago, search queries have grown by almost 50%, yet click-throughs have dropped by 30%.
May 13, 2025 – Business news is bustling with headlines about tariff negotiations, the disruption and opportunities presented by AI, antitrust claims and remedies potentially impacting Google, and content freedom vs. moderation on many platforms, and a pending outright ban of TikTok in the U.S. along with separate actions TikTok brought by several states. Meanwhile, franchisors must navigate these waters to successfully grow their systems.
May 7, 2025 – Startup sentiment among entrepreneurs exploring franchise ownership in April was a bit less sanguine than the record set in March, but remains in an upward trend despite market volatility tied to tariff negotiations. Surveys in the last week of April 2025 showed 71.4% of persons exploring ownership agree or strongly agreed that “now is a good time for startup”, following the 84.5% record set in March.
April 30, 2025 – Franchise development teams are largely maintaining or increasing their expansion plans in 2024-2025. They have responded to changes in the lead generation ecosystem by aggressively diversifying their paid sources, in the face of rising cost per lead, to achieve growth goals and complement organic growth.
April 30, 2025 – Looking back at usage rates of the top franchise development lead generation channels from 2022-2025, franchisors have diversified their sources in response to many changes in the ecosystem.
April 30, 2025 – In a year-over-year analysis of franchise lead generation, interest in franchises shifted to a number of border and coastal states, particularly California, New Jersey and Michigan according to new data from FranchiseInsights.com.
By: Michael Alston for Franchise Insights April 16, 2025 – Franchise development teams should enjoy a new tailwind in prospect optimism. Surveys in the last week of March 2025 showed a record 87.5% of persons exploring ownership agree or strongly agreed that “now is a good time for startup”. In the same survey, 74.1% of …
April 9, 2025 – Most systems responding to the 2025 Franchise Development Lead Generation Survey anticipated increased spending in 2025, to which higher costs per lead were a factor for most sources. In 2025, 87% of franchisors expect to employ Google paid advertising (including YouTube), up from 82.5% in 2024, despite 24.6% of them reporting that lead costs increased somewhat, and 7.3% significantly.
March 26, 2025 – When asked about advertising plans for 2025, 100% of franchise development teams already using the major franchise lead generation sources expected to increase their spending somewhat or significantly in 2025.
This is following a difficult 2024 where, despite challenging business conditions and the distractions of an election year, more than 58% of franchisors surveyed either stuck to their growth plans (50.0%) or increased them. Franchises increasing their expansion plans (8.3%) included all tiers of system sizes, and 98% of them increased their spending in 2024 across the four largest third-party advertising platforms.
March 19, 2025 – When asked about advertising plans for 2025 in our annual Franchise Lead Sources Survey, over 95% of franchise development teams already using either Google, Meta, LinkedIn or TikTok expected to increase their spending somewhat or significantly in 2025.
March 12, 2025 – When asked about how business conditions impacted their expansion plans in 2024, 58% of franchise development teams said they stuck to their plans, or even expanded beyond expectations.
March 5, 2025 – More individuals leaving full-time jobs bodes well for franchise development in 2025. Surveys in the last week of February showed 63.4% of aspiring business owners either agreed or strongly agreed that “now is a good time to start a business,” with optimism about conditions now and in the near future. In the same survey, 81.5% of respondents see conditions for business and franchise startups “the same or better in three months.”
February 25, 2025 – Retail sales dropped 0.9% in January 2025, the largest drop since March 2023, given that much of the country was covered with snow and the Palisades fires raged from January 7-31. If your franchise development team noticed a marked decrease in lead generation and prospect responsiveness in January, weather across the U.S. and fires in California were key among the reasons.
February 12, 2025 – The rising trend in near-term intentions to start businesses bodes well for franchise development in 2025. In late December surveys, 63.4% of aspiring business owners either agreed or strongly agreed that “now is a good time to start a business,” showing optimism about conditions now and in the near future. In the same survey, 90.0% of respondents see conditions for business and franchise startups “the same or better in three months.”
February 5, 2025 – Franchise development faces reduced competition from employers for the best candidates. Return-to-work mandates, cost-cutting, and increasing automation by employers are compelling more individuals to conclude that now is the time to buy a franchise and move forward on the path of “being my own boss”, the leading motivator for business ownership.
January 29, 2025 – Franchise prospects want to know who is calling before accepting a call. More than thirty-seven percent (37.2%) of respondents indicated that they preferred to be emailed first as an initial contact by a franchise they have expressed interest in, according to the recent December 2024 Franchise Insights Mystery Shopping survey.
January 23, 2024 – Since we last reported on the motivations of aspiring franchise owners in August 2024, interest rates have eased, and a contentious election was resolved. But the primary driver for those seeking business ownership has not changed.
January 14, 2025 – If your franchise sales team is noticing a decrease in lead generation in recent days, they are not alone. Despite a great start to the year, California is experiencing a significant drop in inquiries – down 21.3% through January 13, according to proprietary data from the Franchise Ventures lead generation platform of franchise investment inquiries in the United States.
January 7, 2025 – The rising trend in near-term intentions to start businesses bodes well for franchise development in 2025. In late December surveys, a record 93% share of respondents plan their business startups within 12 Months.
January 1, 2025 – Monthly surveys of buyers actively seeking franchises and businesses for sale have shown an increasing inclination to start businesses in the ensuing twelve months when asked about their time frames. In late December 2024, a record 93.0% said they planned their business startups for within the next twelve months, in continuation of an upward trend since the beginning of 2023.
December 18, 2024 – In almost five years of surveying for characteristics that make franchises attractive, “low cost of entry” and “higher earnings potential” have consistently been ranked most important by individuals seeking business ownership. ‘Extensive training and support’ edged out “ability to work from home’ in the November survey.
December 11, 2024 — While the rankings of many of the categories of expected business startup funding changed over the past year, the top three – personal savings, SBA loans, and banks or other loan providers remained the same.
December 3, 2024 – While funding is perennially the biggest concern, 41% of respondents think financing will be easier in three months. Now 68.9% of aspiring business owners surveyed either agree or strongly agree that “now is a good time to start a business,” showing optimism about conditions now and ahead. In the November 2024 survey, 86.9% of respondents see conditions for business and franchise startups “the same or better in three months.”
November 26, 2024 – Initial contact attempts by franchisors to inquiring prospects rose substantially over the last six months as reported by the latest FranchiseInsights.com “mystery shopping” surveys from June to November 2024. In November 2024, over 60% respondents reported that they were contacted by all of the franchises they inquired about.
November 20, 2024 – In a year-over-year analysis, interest in franchises migrated eastward and selectively southward according to new data from FranchiseInsights.com. By comparing quarterly shares by state of inquiries about franchises for the third quarter of 2023 to the third quarter of 2024, there was a continuation of the shift in the mix of where aspiring franchisees were expecting to locate franchises
November 13, 2024 — Almost 57% of franchise prospects in recent surveys attested to their “willingness to follow a proven system”, an essential ingredient for succeeding at franchise ownership. Grit, or “persistence towards a goal despite obstacles” was cited by over half (53.2%) of respondents, followed by “team leadership experience” at almost 40%.
November 6, 2024 – Now 75% of aspiring business owners surveyed either agree or strongly agree that “now is a good time to start a business,” showing optimism about conditions now and ahead, the highest percentage in more than three years. In the October 2024 survey, 90.7% of respondents see conditions for business and franchise startups “the same or better in three months.”
October 30, 2024 – One consistent observation on franchise buyer behavior over almost five years of website journey analysis is how quickly researchers parse among many options to narrow their focus to a few for further inquiry. Most prospects only focus on a single concept when requesting information about franchises, despite the thousands of offerings across dozens of categories in the franchise directories of the Franchise Ventures lead generation platform.
October 23, 2024 – Both political parties have discovered the effectiveness of blanketing mobile phones with fundraising texts. According to YouMail, which offers call and text-blocking apps, political texts alone may be approaching one billion per week in October 2024. How do legitimate franchise representatives get through to sales prospects who want to hear from them?
October 16, 2024 –We routinely ask prospects why they visited franchisor site(s) after submitting an inquiry at a franchise directory website, or portal, to gain insight into this behavior. The overwhelming response, at 49.4%, was “I was very interested and just wanted to learn more.” Another 34.2% wanted to “prepare before having a conversation” with franchise representatives.
October 9, 2024 — Inbound inquiries to your franchise development website yield more informed prospects who demonstrate intent – they are aware of you, and want to learn more. How can you get more of these referred visitors?
October 2, 2024 – Fully two-thirds (65.6%) of aspiring business owners surveyed either agree or strongly agree that “now is a good time to start a business,” with optimism about conditions ahead. In the September 2024 survey, 92.7% of respondents see conditions for business and franchise startups “the same or better in three months.”
September 25, 2024 – Persons inquiring about franchises were mostly satisfied with their experiences, according to recent franchise prospect surveys over the five months ending in September 2024. Almost half (43.5%) said they were either “satisfied “or “very satisfied”, and only 19.2% said they were “unsatisfied or very unsatisfied.”
September 18, 2024 – Data from over five years of surveying aspiring franchise owners shows that about 15-20% already own at least one business. The percentage has varied month-to-month over this time span, which includes the pandemic-affected years, but consistently represents a significant slice of aspiring candidates for franchise development.
September 10, 2024 – Individuals interested in business ownership preferred the option to “buy a franchise” over acquiring an existing business by a significant margin in the August business buyer survey. While almost 60% indicated interest in the franchise purchase option, only 42.3% were interested in buying an existing business for sale.
September 4, 2024 – Almost 63% of aspiring business owners surveyed either agree or strongly agree that “now is a good time to start a business,” with optimism about conditions ahead. In the August 2024 survey, 93.3% of respondents see conditions for business and franchise startups “the same or better in three months”, the highest reading since September 2021.
August 28, 2024 — Only about seven percent of aspiring franchise owners are already “very familiar” with the franchises they inquire about on franchise portals, and another 19% are “already somewhat familiar” with them, according to recent surveys of interested franchise seekers on the FranchiseVentures lead generation platform in July 2024.
August 21, 2024 – Like most individuals, franchise prospects want to know who is calling before accepting a call. Thirty-six percent of respondents indicated that they prefer to be emailed on initial contact by a franchise they have expressed interest in, according to fresh data in the recent July 2024 Franchise Insights Mystery Shopping survey.
August 14, 2024 – What motivates franchise seekers? Since we last reported on the motivations of aspiring franchise owners at the end of 2023, wars in Europe and the Middle East have continued, and concerns about political change have risen among individuals wanting to own their own businesses. But the primary drivers for business ownership have changed little.
August 7, 2024 – About 58% of aspiring business owners either agree or strongly agree that “now is a good time to start a business,” with optimism about conditions ahead. In the July 2024 survey, 79.5% of respondents see conditions for business and franchise startups “the same or better in three months” and those seeing the conditions “better or much better” rose to a five-month high at 31.5%
July 31, 2024 — As in prior surveys, “low cost of entry” and “higher earnings potential” were ranked most important by individuals seeking business ownership. But control over working conditions – including “flexibility of work schedule” and “ability to work from home” were the two next most important characteristics.