Web Working Opportunity: Franchise Ownership

Let’s add another category to the different ways you can be a web worker: franchise ownership. New Internet-based management systems allow franchise owners to manage their brick-and-mortar stores from a distance or run a franchise business as a side job alongside another career:

The franchising world is letting loose. Gone are the days of one owner being chained behind the counter of a single store day in, day out. Today, there are absentee owners who oversee their operations from laptops and Treos, and owners who maintain dual careers or run multiple franchises. At Hollywood Tanning Systems Inc., more than half of the 330 franchise owners have another job. The chief executive of Sport Clips Inc. hair salons estimates that 10 hours a week is a “generous allowance” for owners to physically be in stores. And franchisees for the Decor&You Inc. interior-design business can receive decorating and product training at home whenever they like via online video seminars. [The Wall Street Journal, subscription required]

This is classic web workerhood: using information technology to work in more flexible ways than you could before, picking the geography and set of income streams that suit you. What makes this possible? Internet-based applications that support tracking sales from a distance, replenishing inventory automatically, and online training in business processes.

Of course running a franchise successfully requires a ton of hard work and know-how, especially if you want to do it remotely or as a side job (or both!) There are many resources online for would-be franchisees including Entrepreneur.com’s Franchise Zone and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Guide to Buying a Franchise.

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