5 Franchises to Watch in 2013

By BRIAN DIGGELMANN If you’ve decided that 2013 is the year you get into franchising, you’ll have a tough research process ahead of you to find the perfect franchise opportunity that fits your wants and needs. The right franchise needs to be more than a solid business with a stable market—it has to offer a product or service that you are passionate about. To help jumpstart your research process, we pulled some of our favorite concepts from a variety of categories. Supercuts – Hair Care The nice thing about salon franchises is that anyone with hair is a potential customer. Supercuts offers a top-notch salon experience at budget prices, which has helped it grow to over 2,000 locations since 1979. Its success attracted the eye of Regis Corporation, which bought out the concept in 1996, bringing greater buying power and support. Supercuts has also been highly ranked by Entrepreneur Magazine, landing in the top 10 on its Franchise 500 list three times in the last four years. Startup costs under $200,000 also make it one of the more affordable franchise opportunities. Servpro – Disaster Restoration & Cleaning Disasters are an unfortunate fact of life. If your home has been lucky enough to escape water, fire or other damage from the elements, you probably know someone who hasn’t been so lucky. Servpro is dedicated to helping homeowners bounce back and get on with their lives after disaster strikes. With a wide range of services including water removal, mold mitigation, document drying in addition to more traditional residential and commercial cleaning services, Servpro is able to meet a huge variety of needs. Get started for about $150,000 and join the growing franchise of 1,600 locations. H&R Block – Tax Preparation and Electronic Filing Most people aren’t numbers people. If you’re one of the few that does prefer a good number crunching to writing a report, H&R Block might be the franchise for you. Ranked No. 11 by Entrepreneur on the Franchise 500 list, H&R Block is arguably the best-known tax franchise with the best reputation in the business. Existing business owners can take advantage of their convenient conversion process to quickly begin benefitting from its tremendous brand recognition. Depending on your build out preferences, you can get in business with H&R Block for under $100,000. Kumon Math & Reading Centers – Supplemental Education For some people, making a difference in people’s lives is more important than the bottom line. Kumon lets entrepreneurs have the best of both worlds with its strong after-school enrichment concept. Learning centers provides individualized academic enrichment for students in preschool through 12th grade. Franchises don’t need a teaching background, but a passion for helping kids is a must. Expect to get started for about $150,000. Comfort Keepers – In-Home Care The senior care industry is on the verge of absolutely exploding. 10,000 Americans are turning 65 every day, creating a massive need for home care and in-home assistance. Comfort Keepers is among those at the top of the pile, reaching the highest rank of any home-care franchise on Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500 as well as earning the “World Class Franchise” certification. Comfort Keepers is also a great option for those on a budget with startup costs averaging under $100,000.