What's the Hottest Franchise in Canada?

With the Canadian Franchise Association reporting that there are currently around 1,300 different brands operating in Canada, it can be tough to decide which one to go for. Given all that variety, it's only natural to want to investigate the hottest ones first. What are those magic bullet franchises, and more importantly, what does "hot" really mean to you?

When you're thinking of a "hot" franchise, it really comes down to how you define that word. Is it the franchisors who are selling the most units, the franchisors in emerging and exiting markets or the franchisors who have the happiest and most successful franchisees? There are probably at least ten different ways to define the word "hot" when it comes to franchises, but none of those will help you determine which brands you should be considering. While some of those answers may indicate a stronger likelihood of success in a particular franchise, there are no guarantees you'll achieve that sort of success if you own that same franchise.

Becoming part of a franchise that has the benefit of strong market trends is usually an advantage, for example, but there are many systems in Canada that do well despite economic downturns, so that alone cannot determine what you should chose. Joining a franchise with a stellar track record when it comes to success is great, but for you to do well, your skills still need to be suited to that business and you have to be able to do what is necessary to drive success in that system.

Instead of trying to determine what the hottest franchise is, you need to take a look at yourself first. Take stock of your interests, abilities and skills, and then decide what lifestyle and financial goals you want to hit by buying a franchise. Once you've gotten all of those things down, you can use them to create your franchise search criteria. Let those personal details guide you through your franchise search and right to your ideal business.

While there are a lot of interesting Canadian franchise concepts out there today that have led other people to success, you need to find the one that gets you where you want to go and leverages your core abilities and skills. If you fail to do that, you're only creating avoidable risk for yourself and your investment down the road.