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What is a Health Food Franchise?

Erin J. Hill
Erin J. Hill

A health food franchise is a business or group of businesses that specialize in the health and wellness industry. These can include health food stores, vitamins retailers, and other shops that target those who are concerned with diet and nutrition. The difference between a health food franchise and a more traditional business is in the business model itself.

Franchises are businesses that are opened by an independent entrepreneur using an existing company's name, logo, products, and business model. For instance, if a company is doing well and wants to further its distribution, the owner may decide to franchise new locations. This means that someone else can open one of the original business's stores by paying a fee to the owner.

Health food stores are one type of health food franchise.
Health food stores are one type of health food franchise.

There are many benefits to opening a health food franchise in comparison to starting a new health and wellness business from scratch. Franchises have the benefit of operating under a proven business name that consumers are already familiar with. This helps franchise owners to bypass the process of finding new customers and making a name for the business, because this has already been done.

Starting a health food franchise requires the new owner to fill out an application to start a franchise with the parent company. Often, only a limited number of new locations can be opened in each region or area. After the application has been approved, the franchisee is responsible for paying all fees required by the parent company, as well as all expenses related to the building and operation of the store itself. This can be quite pricey, but is generally worth the expense once the new franchise is open for business. Often, a monthly fee is required in order to continue operating the health food franchise. This may be taken as percentage of monthly sales, or as a flat fee price. The amount and type of fees will be determined by the franchiser.

Generally, it is also required that franchise owners adhere to specific rules and regulations for the running of their store. They may be limited to company approved advertising, as well as company approved products and services. At other times, the franchise owner can decide for himself which items to carry and which promotions sponsored by the parent company he wants to take part in.

Unlike most small businesses, the majority of franchises succeed. This is because of the benefits listed above, and because it is more likely that more experienced businesspeople purchase franchises. For example, many franchise owners begin by working for a company, becoming manager over one or more stores, and then decide to buy a franchise.

Discussion Comments

BrickBack

@Mutsy - I agree. I think that a fitness franchise for children would also be a lot of fun to open. Offering a gym for children with structured classes in order to improve their gross motor skills seems like a lot of fun.

You can market to new moms that would like to have some social interaction with other moms while having their children play for a while.

A lot of these businesses also offer birthday party options which is another source of potential revenue and usually these birthday parties are over in two or three hours and you can easily charge a flat fee for the party.

I think that owning a franchise is a great idea, but you have to find one that you will enjoy working in and will have lasting power as well.

mutsy

@Moldova - I agree. I think owning a franchise related to a healthy lifestyle is smart because they say that about 60% of Americans are overweight so a lot of people will consider buying from a business like this some time in their life.

You can open a healthy food franchise or even a fitness franchise. There are a lot of them that offer exercise training in just thirty minutes three times a week.

With a schedule like that a lot of people would be able to get fit while still working a lot of hours. That is really the biggest problem that people state when they say that they don’t have enough time to exercise.

I think that I rather own a fitness related franchise than a food franchise opportunity. You might also be able to take your exercise routine to a company’s gym and provide training that way as well. This is really a very versatile business.

Moldova

I imagine that a healthy fast food franchise would really be lucrative because so many people are looking to stay fit and others want to lose weight.

I am always looking for healthy alternatives and love when I find healthy fast food. I don’t feel so guilty. I think that this type of business will be easy to expand because many working professionals that would typically buy fast food because they are so busy might consider this alternative and feel better about themseleves.

I am starting to see more healthy food franchises on the market so I think that it is definitely a permanent trend.

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    • Health food stores are one type of health food franchise.
      By: Monkey Business
      Health food stores are one type of health food franchise.