Franchises That Offer Creative FinancingPrograms designed to make buying a franchise easy

Ray Depouli, vice president of franchise marketing formanagement training franchisor Priority Management Systems Inc. inBellevue, Washington, has seen a lot of franchise deals cometogether. And he has seen a lot of investors struggle mightily withthe financial aspects of their purchases. "Most people arethinking about the exciting and familiar and manageable aspects oftheir new business venture, and the last thing they think about isfinancing it," says DePouli. "Financing should be thefirstthing they think about, but for some reason financingthe purchase is always relegated to the back end of the thoughtprocess."

The truth is, even if financing is put at the front of thethought process, it can pose a formidable challenge for the mostenterprising franchise buyer. The good news is that manyfranchisors are providing innovative financing programs to easeyour way. Consider the approaches of a few companies that haveapplied ingenuity, drive and business savvy to the financialchallenge of financing a franchise.