1851 Franchise Partners with BoeFly to Produce Franchise Finance Index

With the help of bQual, a tool developed by BoeFly that has helped rewrite the future of franchise development, and 1851 Franchise, a leading source for business and franchising, navigating the world of financing just got a little easier. In January 2016, 1851 Franchise partnered with BoeFly to introduce the new Franchise Finance Index—a monthly snapshot of the franchise lending landscape, built with the prospective franchisee in mind.

To compile January 2016’s Franchise Finance Index, BoeFly and 1851 Franchise collected and analyzed bQual financing statistics sourced from franchisee activity from brands that account for approximately 9,000 franchise units around the country. These franchise brands utilized bQual to educate their prospective franchisees on their vital financial details—such as their business credit score (SBSS by FICO), required on most Small Business Administration loans, their FICO consumer credit score, a copy of their Equifax credit report, and an overall fundability assessment of their loan prospects. According to Mike Rozman, chief executive officer of BoeFly, the Franchise Finance Index will provide useful insight not just for franchisees, but also for franchisors and lenders.

“With this index, we’re trying to provide an honest look into what we’re seeing here at BoeFly for the larger market. By providing this aggregated data that only we have access to, we expect to educate those interested in franchise sales and financing alike,” Rozman said.

As Chief Brand Strategist and publisher for 1851 Franchise, Nick Powills believes the Franchise Finance Index will help the industry as a whole better understand the type of candidates brands are looking for. 

“The goal of the Franchise Finance Index is to leverage transparency to make successful franchising easier. This partnership between 1851 Franchise and BoeFly has resulted in this incredibly useful data, and for the first time, it’ll all be visible to the public,”Powills said. “By exposing these numbers, we’re helping franchisors better identify the right candidates, and conversely, we’re giving candidates the information they need to determine if they’re ready to take the next step into franchise ownership. In the end, it could lead to faster openings for new business owners while allowing the franchisor to eliminate financially unqualified candidates sooner, freeing up time to work with more qualified prospects.”