What Are the Most Common Franchised Industries?

The franchise business model has infiltrated a range of industries, but some are far more popular than others. For restaurants, the largest majority of the franchise industry, their network can grow to be expensive very quickly. The good news is a restaurant franchisor is still able to continue growing at a more affordable cost while presenting easy-to-follow business playbooks to local franchisees. 

According to the 2017 Economic Census Franchise Statistics Report, hundreds of thousands of full-service restaurant businesses have also employed millions of people. Through the years, this option has usually been a win-win.

Although not as popular as restaurants, in 2017, hotels and motels, car dealerships, real estate brokerages, and beauty salons have increased their franchise establishments. 

Then came the COVID-19 pandemic. Its impact on the business world changed the landscape in franchising, and a swell in remote and flexible work. Consequently, the need for home services and flexible office space was driven up by true work-from-homers and those seeking a neutral “third party” workspace that was neither in office or at home. 

See how these other franchise industries are doing.

Home Services

The home services market took off shortly after the onset of the pandemic and continued to boom throughout 2022, driven by people spending more time at home and looking to maintain and upgrade what they had rather than trying to buy in a tough real estate market.

Valued at over $500 billion and expected to continue growing in the coming years, the home services sector presents a great opportunity for franchisees to break into a high-demand, often pandemic- and recession-proof industry.

Flexible Workspace

After shifting to remote and flexible models for health and safety reasons during the pandemic, many companies have found themselves shying away from a total return to office. Commercial office spaces are still sitting empty, and the demand for additional coworking spaces continues to grow.

Due to the immediate demand, many flexible workspace companies have shifted toward franchising in order to scale more quickly with dedicated, local owners rather than working to address the sizable market through corporate operations alone.

Hotels

The rationale for hotels is similar to that behind restaurant franchising. Hotel brands would do well to expand across wide geographies, but doing so through only a corporate team can be expensive.

On the flip side, entrepreneurs looking to own a hotel often consider franchising because of the brand identity and power associated with the franchisor. Franchised hotels tend to perform better than non-franchised ones.

Maintenance and Cleaning

Maintenance and cleaning concepts fit well within the franchise model because of the often low cost of entry. Entrepreneurs looking to start a business can get in for a fairly low cost, just needing to pay the franchise fee and other startup costs. The lack of a brick-and-mortar location drives costs down at startup and on an ongoing basis.

The industry itself is a great opportunity as well because maintenance and cleaning services are an ongoing need, meaning franchisees can count on relatively steady income and repeat revenue from repeat clients.

Business Support

If businesses are running, there will be associated business needs. Printing, packing, shipping and staffing are all just part of doing the job. By franchising within one of these spaces, owners can take advantage of persistent need without having to learn complex knowledge or skills.

If none of the above are of interest, potential franchisees may be intrigued by a few other popular franchise industries: automotive services, clothing and second-hand stores, technology repair, and health care concepts. Outside of genuine interest, why are any of these so popular? Generally, they either have a relatively low barrier to entry or were launched into franchising in an effort to lighten the load for the corporation (now franchisor).