General News

Five Categories of Franchise Industries That Are Poised For More Growth

The franchising industry has never had it so good! It is witnessing growth from every corner. According to an IFA report, more than 300 new concepts were added last year and the 3,000 established players increased their unit-volume by an average of 4%! Even businesses that were once considered as non-franchise material have started franchising successfully.

The biggest market-share is still held by the food-related industry, but other franchising industries too are emerging quite fast. Within the food industry, hamburger-related franchises had the biggest unit expansion; but other groups such as fruit-drinks and sub-shops too are fast catching up. They had enjoyed a growth of 130% and 75% respectively in the recent past.

Now, let’s take a look at the other fastest-growing franchising fields that are giving food-related franchising industry a run for its money. Theses industries are classified under five broader categories:

• Services General: There are several sub-categories within this class that includes check-cashing, dry-cleaning, maid-services, and mailing and packaging services. This field has gained the maximum market-share in terms of unit expansion and it stood to 3.45%.

• Building Industry: The next top-performer among the fastest-growing concepts experienced .54% growth. The sub-categories in this industry include primarily construction and remodeling jobs such as closet-remodeling, window-repair services, waterproofing and bathroom-related construction works and others.

• Real Estate Field: This group had .46% growth-rate. The sub-categories in this group include real-estate broker services and property inspection services among others.

• Child-related Arena: Another star performer, this was just .03 behind real-estate and stood at impressive .43%. This segment has a great future as double-income families with disposable income are increasing steadily in the US society. Such families have one or two children and want only the best for them, whether in education or in entertainment. Some of the sub-categories under this field are tutoring, child-care, children fitness etc.

• Maintenance Sector: Another category with great future, the growth of this segment stood at .26%. Among the various categories, mention should be made of commercial/residential cleaning. Between 2000 and 2006, this industry’s unit number increased by 37%. The next was carpet- and upholstery-cleaning services, which grew by 14% during the same period. But surprisingly, these two were not the top performers for unit growth; that title goes to window-cleaning and handyman services. The former grew by 260% while the latter by 247%.