Open a franchise outlet
Open a franchise outlet: what do we mean by outlet?
In common language, an outlet is a sales point where you can buy different types of products at reduced prices compared to the price list. For outlets, however, we mean both the single store and the shopping malls that combine multiple outlets. The products sold in the outlets are the most diverse: they range from clothing to accessories, through equipment and sportswear, food or products for children.
These are actually just a few examples of outlets; in fact potentially every brand and type of product lends itself to sale with this commercial formula. The single-brand outlets , which sell the products of a single brand, are very common . However, even multi-brand outlets, which offer products of different brands, sometimes grouped together by type (for example outlets for clothing or household products) are not rare.
As you will have understood, the outlet panorama is very varied; the choice of the best idea for your franchise outlet therefore depends on your preferences and the type of goods you believe will be most successful in the area where you are thinking of positioning your store. In a few paragraphs I will show you some ideas I recently found to open a new franchise outlet. But now I would like to focus on a very important aspect for a new store, namely the choice of space.
The choice of the store: dimensions and location
Let’s start with the dimensions: to open an outlet there are no minimum store dimensions to consider. However, please note that it could be the franchisor himself that requires minimum features for the point of sale. The square footage you’ll need is very variable. A determining factor is the type of goods sold. For example, if the outlet deals with products of different types, you will necessarily have to consider stores with large sizes and with sufficient stock .
For less bulky or easy to store products, such as non-perishable food, the sizes can be much lower, starting from a few dozen square meters. If you are dealing with clothing, consider also having enough space to expose your clothes adequately, and also calculate a few square meters for dressing rooms or test rooms.
In case you want to open an outlet as a set of shops, obviously the size you will need to have will be exponentially greater. However, I will not consider the type of outlet / mall in this guide , because I would like to focus more on franchise outlet proposals, which very often concern the opening of a single store, single-brand or multi-brand.
How much will I have to invest to open an outlet?
Opening a franchise outlet requires a fair amount of capital, which depends largely on the type of store you intend to open. As you will see in the next paragraph, requests from franchisors are very different from one another, and vary both according to the type of product offered and the services included in the initial investment. Whatever the sector, keep in mind that you will have to face an initial investment of around € 15,000, to which must be added other business costs. A sum of 20,000 euros is therefore a good starting point for an adequate investment .