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Franchise Concepts With a Purpose: Exploring Socially Responsible and Impactful Business Models

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Franchise Concepts With a Purpose: Exploring Socially Responsible and Impactful Business Models

Franchise owners can make a significant impact on the world. Their collective teams and resources kickstart movements to help people and the environment, depending on which industry the owner enters. 

These are some of the best franchise concepts because they’re socially responsible, impactful and profitable.

Sustainable Seafood Companies

Many consumers assume seafood is a better industry for future franchise owners because it doesn’t use the same business processes as beef farms. Although sustainable fishing supplies are readily available, corporations sometimes rely on methods like trawling to keep up with high demand.

Trawling drags large nets across the ocean floor. They pull up thriving coral communities and plant life without guaranteeing a full catch of the intended fish species. Trawlers also create significant amounts of carbon dioxide, contributing to the issue of global warming.

Entrepreneurs can mitigate this issue by opening sustainable seafood companies, like a franchise with Shuckin’ Shack. The brand works with a sustainable seafood supplier, recycles its oyster shells and has multiple approvals from ocean-focused environmental groups like the Plastic Ocean Project. By working with a brand such as Shuckin Shack, the franchise owner’s corresponding eco-friendly business models would rely on similar production methods to avoid harming endangered plant and marine animal species.

Plant-Based Meat Brands

Cultures transform meats with widespread arrays of recipes, but it’s not the best ingredient for the environment. Livestock industries contribute 12–18% of greenhouse gas emissions globally. Becoming part of a franchise that tries to reduce that statistic is a significant way to create positive change for the planet.

Home Care Businesses

While mainstream companies focus on catering to younger generations, entrepreneurs can enter the socially responsible home care industry. The demand for in-home assistance is projected to rise by 29% through 2024, leading to a higher demand for more home care service providers throughout the U.S.

There are numerous reasons why people prefer to age at home. They may not be able to afford an assisted living facility. Some people live in rural areas that don’t have those facilities or have health conditions that require specialized care.

It’s especially beneficial if the prices for those home care services match the economic abilities of older adults in the surrounding area. When patients and their loved ones don’t have to go into additional medical debt to access health care, franchise services become humanitarian efforts.

Junk Removal Trucks

Municipal solid waste is a challenge wherever people live. Based on the most updated research, it contributes an average of 35 million tons of garbage to landfills, but it doesn’t all belong there. People often throw out reusable or recyclable goods, not realizing those options are available or have them nearby.

Junk removal franchises are a socially responsible way to fight this ongoing issue. Gone for Good is one brand to consider that donates whatever goods it can while recycling leftover materials from client pickup sites. It’s a convenience consumers appreciate because it makes their lives easier while keeping landfill waste from polluting the environment.

Learning Center Brands


Daycares help parents return to work, but only if they can afford it. The average parent pays between $5,357–17,171 annually for childcare. It’s a significant financial burden, but learning center franchises can solve this systemic challenge.

Learning centers provide daycare for young kids while combining their daytime activities with learning opportunities. Each parent’s monthly payment becomes an investment in their child’s academic success. Kids can learn custom curriculum lessons that help them later in life and prepare them for grade school.

The key is matching the daily, weekly and monthly care costs with the economic abilities of families in the surrounding area. Discounts also make learning centers more affordable by merging socially responsible business models with what people can comfortably manage.

Solar Panel Franchise

Social and environmental responsibility merge with solar panel installation franchises. They allow homeowners to reduce their monthly utility bills by harvesting solar energy from their rooftops. Saving money is why 92% of homeowners who installed solar panels went through with the purchase or seriously considered it.

Using less electricity from power plants also helps the environment. The plants don’t have to produce as much electricity for surrounding areas, leading to fewer carbon emissions per plant.

Entrepreneurs with green values can open a business with franchise brands like Solar Grids. The company provides the training and management resources a new business owner needs to launch a successful enterprise. Solar Grids also assists with training installation specialists so every newly installed panel works at peak efficiency.

Green Landscaping Companies

Landscaping is a foundational part of many neighborhoods, but it’s not always helpful for the planet. Sprinklers use excessive water to keep plants alive, while chemical-based products kill insects and leak into surrounding habitats.

Nearby clients would ensure the environment benefits from organic fertilizers, chemical-free pesticides and recommended plant choices to reduce water usage. Expert team members could also provide landscape design appointments to pitch ideas like hardscaping. Utilizing rock formations, fire pits and patios would make any yard better for the environment while making the homeowner’s yard-care routine more manageable.

Urgent Care Clinics

Prioritizing the health of a community through a franchise is one of the most socially responsible and impactful business models. Research shows over 100 rural hospitals shut down between 2013 and 2020, forcing people to travel an average of 20 miles farther for essential services.

Urgent care franchise locations can assist with this issue. Entrepreneurs often reach out to companies like American Family Care to open clinics in medically underserved areas like rural communities.

The brand helps new owners navigate the legal steps of providing new medical services while streamlining the location’s success with tailored marketing and developmental plans. The centers become crucial to the region’s medical infrastructure, guaranteeing long-term success and positive social impact.

Franchise owners can also look into providing services for affordable rates based on the average wage in the surrounding city or zip code. Gallup polling shows 38% of Americans skipped medical care in 2022 due to the rising costs of essential services. Meeting a community’s needs with affordable medical treatments at an urgent care venue would merge humanitarian and franchising opportunities.

Open a Franchise With a Purpose

Humanitarian needs range from a healthy planet that provides a long-term home to affordable medical services. Franchise owners can fill those gaps, depending on the type of franchise they open. Entrepreneurs must consider these impactful business opportunities to start the career they desire while making lasting positive changes in their communities.

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Top Five Challenges Facing Franchise Owners Today

Owning a franchise system is a dream come true for some entrepreneurs. But with different franchising ideas constantly popping in, it can be difficult to establish a brand that’s both sellable and unique.

Even if you’re bold, fearless, and a big risk-taker, it isn’t enough to ensure the success of the business you’re trying to build. However, a start-up franchise business loan will come in handy and will also help you grow your franchise company.

As with other growing businesses, the franchising industry faces its own unique set of challenges. At one point, some companies may experience rapid growth only to end up hitting a wall when it comes to expanding their brand. Sometimes, the challenges in the franchise business can be foreseen, but they can also catch entrepreneurs by surprise.

Here are 5 of the challenges facing franchisors today:

1. Lack of Working Capital

One of the many reasons why businesses fail is because of insufficient working capital. Although the road to success for a franchise business might seem easy, it’s not going to work if you don’t have proper financing. The first few years in running a franchise are usually the hardest. Aside from the fact that you’re still learning the ropes, you also have to deal with expensive start-up costs.

If you’re starting a franchise business, you’ll more than likely have to employ the help of some professionals. Franchise consultants, lawyers, branding experts, and other important people need to be on board to ensure the success of your franchise business. So, be sure that you have adequate financing that will cover fees.

In the franchising industry, it’s always important to remember never to underestimate the costs. Franchisors should generate enough revenue to support infrastructures, marketing campaigns, business operations, as well as other important finances.

Since it could take years for the franchise business to generate enough cash to support the business structure, entrepreneurs should have enough capital to self-fund the business until it reaches that point. Oftentimes, they will take out a franchising business loan to manage the costs.

2. Untrusting Franchisees

Because of the increasing negative opinions regarding franchises, a lot of potential franchisees are having doubts about following this route for their own brand. As a result, they end up questioning the motives and strategies of a franchising company. This can easily become a distraction and a major obstacle in the growth of a franchise company. Because of that, their performance becomes limited and it can undermine the process of a growing company.

As a franchisor, you can prevent this from happening. For one, don’t leave your franchisees wondering. Provide the necessary information that is needed, eliminate any misunderstandings, and be sure to quickly address all questions as honestly as you can.

Also be transparent with your processes, as well as the ways on how you reached where you are today. Be sure to include your franchisees in every business decision, so your motives and actions will not be viewed as self-serving.

3. Finding the Right Franchisees

It’s a no brainer that the success of a franchise business largely depends on the quality of their franchisees. To become a franchisee, interested entrepreneurs have to go through a number of processes, with due diligence being a must. However, there are also times when the franchisors become desperate, especially when cash flow is tight.

When this happens, they accept a franchisee and skip the recruitment process. In times such as these, franchisors must remember that quality is always better than quantity.

When starting a franchise business, franchisors must build a reputable network. They should always build and maintain a strong relationship with their franchisees. Remember that the word of an existing franchises is important in finding recruits for your business. So, the happier they are, the better it will be for the growth of your company.

4. Hiring the Right Team

In starting any business, the entrepreneur must be able to identify the company’s strengths and weaknesses. Once this is known, they will then know what type of people they should hire in order to bridge the gap and eliminate weak points.

Your employees are the greatest asset in your business. As a growing company, the odds are high that you’ll need to interact with your staff from different departments. Ideally, you should be sure that you’re all working towards the same goal. As such, you need to instill the company’s culture in your employees and take steps that ensure they embrace it, as well.

5. Adjusting to Becoming a Franchising Company Owner

Although it may sound simple to some, becoming a franchisor is the biggest challenge of running a franchising company. An entrepreneur might be used to overseeing the day to day operations of a business, however, when one decides to franchise their business, a whole new set of concerns arises.

A franchising entrepreneur should possess the qualities of a good leader. They should also be able to motivate and inspire their employees and franchisees, so they too, can adapt to the role given to them.

Aside from that, the franchisor should learn how to hold back in the management of their business operations. By hiring the right management team, the franchisor is able to free up time which they can use to focus more on business’ growth and expansion. They have to make concerted efforts to not to make any crucial franchising mistakes in order to avoid a business failing.

Need Start-up Franchising Business Loans for Your Growing Franchising Company?

Running a franchising company is a challenging undertaking. That’s why you need a strong support system as well as the right funding in place that can help your business survive. At some point, you’ll eventually need additional financing support in order to keep your business afloat. So, be sure to secure the right start-up franchising business loans for your growing business.

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Ramona Smith is a staff writer for SMB Compass. She loves to enjoy spending time with her family. She loves to going out and explore new moments whenever they came to light. Ramona discovers satisfaction in investigating new subjects that help to extend her points of view. You can frequently locate her covered in a decent book or out searching for an experience.