Small Town Franchise – Profitable Startup Ideas

Growing a business in a small town, in some ways, can be more difficult – there is a high probability of serious competition. But, if you choose an undeveloped niche, then you can even sell your franchises over time.

How to choose a franchise for a small town and what do you need to know when choosing such a business development program? These questions will be discussed in more detail below.

Nuances of business development in a small town

Whether you will develop your business from scratch or franchise it is not so important. Since we are talking about a small city, first of all you need to analyze whether what you offer or sell will be in demand in such an area.

When developing a business in a small town, consider the following “pitfalls”:

• There is (for some goods/services) low purchasing power.
• Limited number of consumers, which means low turnover.
• The attitude of residents towards your product or service. This can become a negative factor if there is fierce competition.

There are also advantages of starting a franchise business in a small town:

• Low rent for the premises.
• The salary level is relatively low, which means that the start-up costs will definitely be less than opening a business in a big city.
• In small towns, the unemployment rate is higher than in megacities, so you will definitely not be left without staff.
• The brand will not have to spend much money on image advertising, as word of mouth works well in such cases – they will quickly find out about you anyway.

Despite the fact that the advantages here are definitely no less than the negative sides, you must first conduct an analysis of the market, competitors and be sure to draw up a business plan.

What is important to know when choosing a franchise?

You do not need to buy the first franchise for a small city that comes across – first of all, be sure to analyze and build on the following factors:

• The population of the region.
• The presence of competitors in the same niche, the quality of their work.
• Demand for a service or product.
• Seasonality of business – whether this factor takes place, and how strongly it is expressed.

When choosing a franchise in a small town, you need to pay attention to such factors:

• The popularity of the brand, trademark.
• Demand for the goods or services of this manufacturer.
• The quality of work, reviews about them.
• Legal support of business.
• Franchise conditions – how much the franchise holder will have to pay, on what conditions, what is included in supporting your business at the start.

Do not sign any contracts and do not give money until you are sure of the validity of the offer and that it will be beneficial for you.

A little advice: when choosing a franchise in a small town, give preference to those areas in which you understand at least at the initial level, have a general idea. Otherwise, it will be difficult to run your own business.

Franchise Examples

Which direction to choose to open a franchise business for a small town? The following areas have proved to be quite good and even promising:

• Public catering – places where you can have a bite to eat , have a full meal or even organize a festive dinner, are in demand in any locality.
• A hairdressing salon and a beauty salon – just like with public catering, do your hair, put yourself in order – the need for a person, no matter what city he lives in.
• Clothes and accessories.
• Products for children.
• Services for children – private kindergartens, preschool and school educational institutions, child development centers are in demand.
• Entertainment.
• Tourism – this will work great for historical places, with unique natural phenomena and so on.
• Pawnshops.
• Outsourcing.

Let’s consider these directions in more detail.

Catering

A small cafe, a fast-food kiosk, a restaurant, or a burger joint – such catering places will be in demand in any city. Moreover, there are more than enough franchises in this niche – there are plenty to choose from, even if the budget is limited.

It is important to understand the following:

• Opening a catering, even if it is a franchise, requires serious documentation, in particular, obtaining permits from the sanitary and epidemiological station, quality certificates for products.
• All employees of your institution must have up-to-date medical books.
• Never save on the quality of products – this will negatively affect the reputation, and worst of all, the health of citizens. And since this is a small city, one or two such incidents will be enough for no one else to come to your institution.

The high competition will not be a negative factor for you if you offer your customers a tasty, high-quality product at a reasonable price.

Barber or beauty salon

We wrote in detail about how to open a beauty salon here. Why would such a franchise destination in a small town be in demand? Because:

• A person needs to do a haircut, fix a haircut in any locality – be it a big city or a village.
• Potential clients of hairdressing salons are people of any income and age from 3 years.
• You don’t need big expenses to start, and since we are talking about a franchise, you don’t need to worry about purchasing quality equipment – this is provided by the franchise holder or, in extreme cases, gives professional advice on choosing.

There is also, as a rule, no shortage of skilled workers.

Clothes and accessories

Dressing stylishly, beautifully and at the same time inexpensively is an ideal option for residents of small towns. The need for interesting accessories to match these most stylish clothes is also quite significant, so starting such a franchise business in a small town is a great idea. The ideal option would be if it is a well-known brand, but do not forget about the solvency of the local mentality.

Products for children

Just like food, goods for children are necessary for any city, village. This niche includes children’s clothing, baby food, furniture, and accessories.

The leader in selling franchises in this business niche is the Orb trademark. The initial investment for a business here is about 3 million rubles. You will also need a fairly large room for a store – at least 70 square meters.

Also one of the best representatives of children’s goods is the Orange Elephant brand. Here you can find everything for children’s creativity, even non-standard sets. By the way, this is an inexpensive franchise for a small town – the volume of starting investments is about 200,000 rubles.

Services for children

For a small city, this is one of the best options, since the niche is only developing and competition is low in small provincial cities.

A notable brand that successfully sells franchises throughout the Russian Federation is Baby Club. This is a network of children’s development centers that have been operating for more than 15 years. Starting investments here are considerable – such a profitable franchise for a small town costs almost a million rubles. You will have to pay 15-25 thousand rubles per month. There is a requirement regarding the premises – at least 70 square meters.

Entertainment

The entertainment industry is growing and fast. So, quests have been quite popular lately, and a notable brand that sells cheap franchises for a small town is Quest House. Starting a business with this company will be easy even for someone who does not understand what it is to be an entrepreneur at all, because:

• Screenwriting services are provided, as well as ready-made templates for games.
• Equipment and supplies are provided to create scenery.
• A full-fledged advertising campaign is being created.

The Quest House franchise costs 200,000 rubles, then payments are 10% of the monthly turnover.

Outsourcing

In small towns, as a rule, there are no problems with personnel for working specialties, sellers, builders, and so on. But, as for rare specialties, everything is somewhat worse here – such personnel, as a rule, move to big cities.

Consequently, a company that will provide outsourcing services in a small city will be very popular. There are not so many franchises in this area, but it is quite possible to organize your business from scratch and subsequently sell your franchises.

Pawnshops

This is the kind of business that is relevant everywhere, even in remote settlements. The leaders here, if we consider the sale of franchises in cities, are “Komodo” and “Lombard No. 1”. By the way, the latter is popular not only on the territory of the Russian Federation but also in other CIS countries.

In addition, the latter provides almost step-by-step instructions for work, as well as marketing materials – starting and receiving a stable income is a breeze.

Summing up

There are more than enough franchises for a small town – we have brought just a little here for review. Starting a business on your own or in this way is entirely up to you, but for an inexperienced entrepreneur, the last option is optimal.