The top two motivating factors for Australians planning to buy a franchise before 2010 are the potential to earn and the enhanced lifestyle offered by the change of career path, a recent survey found.
In the national independent online survey commissioned by Mortgage Choice, of people in the 25 to 55 year age group earning $60,000+ per annum, the top reason for running their own franchise was ‘income potential’. However, running a very close second was ‘improved lifestyle’.
Interestingly, the top two choices for 25-30 year olds were ‘improved lifestyle’ and ‘flexibility with the ability to control your own time/movements/etc’ – ‘income potential’ was third – while the top two for the 51-55 years group was ‘income potential’ and ‘channeling your experience into your own business’. For them, ‘improved lifestyle’ was fifth on the list of priorities.
Mortgage Choice National Manager Corporate Affairs, Warren O’Rourke said this stark contrast in responses for the older and younger generations was not so surprising.
"Australian society is realising more and more that Generation Y and the younger Generation X want to work to live not live to work," he said.
"In fact, it is a sentiment that appears to be catching on throughout most age groups. People are still working hard but are placing less importance on working long hours and striving for the best pay possible because they know that means sacrificing lifestyle."
The objective of the survey was to determine drivers of behaviour when it comes to Australians looking to purchase a franchise.
"We wanted to take a good look at the current temperature of the market for potential franchisees," Mr O’Rourke said.
Overall, the top three reasons for respondents planning to run their own franchise business were: ‘income potential’, chosen by 47.3% of respondents, ‘improved lifestyle’ (45.3%) and ‘flexibility with the ability to control your own time/movements/etc’ (44.5%). The next few were: ‘looking for stimulation, challenge and personal achievement’ (45.0%), ‘security of being your own boss’ (40.03%), ‘channel your experience into your own business’ (26.7%) and ‘more time for family’ (25.0%).
