There are signs of post-pandemic recovery in West Michigan. The number of people buying their own business is growing.
FranNet, a franchise consulting firm that helps people come to own a franchise, says franchising deals are up nationally and locally by about 100 percent this year compared to pre-pandemic numbers.
There are several industries that are doing better in Grand Rapids right now: in-home care, education, maintenance and restoration, home cleaning, business support and home-based and mobile businesses.
For Kevin Dewald of ProLift Garage Doors of Grand Rapids, making the switch from corporate America about three years ago to owning a franchise means he can be more involved in his work and his community.
"It's just been overall very rewarding," he says. "We support little league teams and we give away scholarships. In my past career, I couldn't do this type of stuff at this kind of level."
His new business saw steady growth, but then the pandemic rolled around and changed everything, from restrictions on business at the beginning to issues with the supply chain now.
"It really comes down to the steel mills, creating the sheet metal to create garage doors as well as springs and the components that go with it. I hear they're catching up with it, but now they're stuck at the ports," Dewald says.
Luckily, he says he's currently not having problems hiring and retaining employees in the midst of the current labor shortage. But he has noticed the changes in the job market.
"We do a lot of interviews, and we get candidates that seem interested in the job, then we set up an interview and they're no-shows," Dewald says. "Running across stuff like that is very frustrating, and also there must be so many jobs out there that they can pick and choose or they just don't want to work that bad."
Brigitte Betser, a local franchise placement specialist with FranNet, says the home cleaning, maintenance and restoration industry is one of the ones booming right now in West Michigan.
"I'm seeing folks have an interest in those industries and purchase franchises in those industries," she says. "We're also hearing from franchisors that their revenue numbers are up as well."
She says the interest in these industries is something she's noticed align with the pandemic.
"Coming out of the pandemic, I'm talking to folks reevaluating their investments and reevaluating their careers, and they're looking at diversification. And franchising is fitting in well with those categories," Bittser says.
It's a jump that Dewald says he's seen his colleagues make too.
"It's exciting to hear people doing the leap, wanting to control their own destiny and take a stab at being a small business owner," he says.
In the data FranNet collected, the consulting firm also found that the health, fitness and beauty industries are seeing more franchisee owners in our area, and Michigan is one of the top states seeing this trend based on things like population growth, household income growth and future business environment expectations.
"Grand Rapids continues to be one of the top cities to live in because of affordability, and Grand Rapids is very entrepreneurial-friendly," Bitser says.
"Franchisors do reach out to me specially to find owners for their brands because they identify that West Michigan is a good place to do business. We have 205 business concepts in our inventory and a lot of franchises in our inventory represent the five brands we talk about today."
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