I assume you are studying the concept of franchising, so you would be looking for franchise dissertation topics. However, I have to make some assumptions regarding the perspective you have chosen. Does it come from the concept of taking a business that has grown to a level of success and franchising that business? or, you come from the other side of the industry, that of buying a franchise for your own business. Let me suggest some issues from both sides with reasons why they may be of interest.
Franchising your successful business
The Franchise Disclosure Document: Should you have it developed for you? Should you hire a company specializing in franchise development or hire a local attorney? What will you decide about optional information for this FDD, such as ‘Financial Performance Statements’?
Choosing a company to develop your franchise offer: Need to have someone local? Will you develop any of the documents internally? Can you work with someone who is remote if it will save money?
Procedures and Policies: Do you already have these documents prepared? How easy to use are they? Do you require strict adherence now? Will you require strict compliance from your franchisees?
Training: How much training will you provide? Will you be trained only on product knowledge and operations? Will you also train marketing and sales techniques? Will it be one time or continuous? Will you receive training at headquarters, at the franchise location, at both? How much will all that cost? How much will the new franchise finance?
Marketing: How will you market your new franchise opportunity? Will you use franchise brokers, conventions, industry publications, newspapers? How can you use the Internet? What will the costs be?
Which of these franchise dissertation topics is of most interest from this perspective?
Buy the right franchise for your business
cost: What can you pay? How much cash do you have available considering your needs for personal and living expenses as the business gets off the ground? How much can you borrow vs. How much are you comfortable borrowing? what is your credit score? Are you open to using retirement funds? How do you do that? Who is an expert in setting that up so there are no negative tax implications?
Fit: What do you bring to the table in the way of experience? Perhaps more importantly, what activities do you like to do that might be a good fit for your new business? (If you enjoy doing certain things, you tend to do them, which results in getting the goal of those activities. On the other hand, if you go into a business that requires activities you hate to do, you’ll eventually find a reason not to do them and the business could fail). What services or products are you passionate about? What personality traits would fit well with specific businesses? How can you combine all of this with franchises that fit most or all?
License: What licenses are required for what types of franchises? Which employees will need which licenses?
Structure: Should you operate your business as a Limited Liability Company, an ‘S’ Corporation or a ‘C’ Corporation? When and why would one be more appropriate than another?
Marketing: Does the franchise provide my marketing procedures? Are they all you need? What marketing procedures are the best performing franchises using? Can you replicate those techniques? What will allow you to use the franchise?
How about any of the above franchise dissertation topics when buying a franchise?
Surely there are others that may come to mind. You can even combine some of the above franchise dissertation topics with non-franchise business topics for added relevance. I would recommend that in all cases you make sure to include something about how the marketing will impact either prospect. Also, in today’s world, if your company, franchise or not, does not use the Internet, you are falling behind the competition. Learn how that can be done efficiently. Start now while you think about it.
