Starting your own business is as American as apple pie, pick-up trucks and Monday Night Football. Yet today, more and more people – particularly U.S. Armed Services Veterans returning home from overseas – are choosing to launch their own business by using a franchise. Funding such efforts can be difficult as franchise financing generally requires a large, up-front investment in the form of franchise fees and operational costs. Yet thanks to the VetFran initiative, an extension of the International Franchise Association, veterans are getting a little help.

VetFran Program Can Make Finance Franchise Less Costly

Launched by a military veteran himself in the early 1990s, VetFran began as a way to help those returning home from serving in the Gulf. Today, there are more than 66,000 veteran-owned franchise businesses in the country; one in every seven franchises is owned by a veteran. Entrepreneur Magazine recently came out with a report on the best franchises for veterans, some of which make financing less expensive by offering a reduced fee by 20 or 30 percent.

Factoring Companies Can Help with Fast, Franchise Funding

These programs that reduce franchise fees can serve as great incentives for those starting out in franchise ownership as many often underestimate how much money they will need. In addition to these fees, franchise owners will need funding for small business operations, working capital, payroll, marketing and more. It is generally suggested that business owners have enough money in cash reserves to cover six months of day-to-day living expenses.

Those who are in need of startup capital can go to a neighborhood bank to seek franchise funding. Depending on the circumstances, small business financing may be easier to get for a franchise than other startups but this is not always the case. Alternative financing institutions such as invoice factoring companies can provide franchise financing in less time – and with far less paperwork and credit checks – than traditional banks.