2018 Annual Sign Franchise Review

Franchises may count as a small business, but there’s nothing small about them.

According to the International Franchise Association’s “Franchise Business Economic Outlook for 2018,” franchise businesses accounted for approximately $416 billion last year, amounting to a total GDP growth in 2018 forecast at 2.7%

Sign franchises, it’s important to note, are typically exceeding that growth rate, according to the companies we surveyed for our annual Sign Franchise Review. In fact, total system-wide sales for sign franchises grew at nearly 11%, on average, for all companies, in 2017 versus 2016. And companies indicated that, on average, their number of shops grew approximately 5% in 2017 versus the previous year (both in the US and internationally).

However, franchise employment growth as reported by ADP has slowed somewhat in 2017 after posting the highest growth rate in 2016 since the series began in 2011. Nonetheless, the franchise sector is projected to grow faster in 2018 than the overall economy. The International Franchise Association estimates the number of franchise establishments increased 1.6% in 2017 and expect them to increase another 1.9% in 2018 to 759 thousand. 

Although states in the South and West lead the nation in franchise employment, renewed flows of domestic migration and healthy payrolls make franchises a lucrative business sector in North America, as well as globally.

A positive factor of being with a franchise is the competitive advantages that come from being a brand with global recognition. Franchises provide more buying power to our already great negotiated pricing on equipment, services and supplies. One key advantage is that franchises have access to products and services that the independent often does not. Corporate teams are focused on helping franchisees improve profit and growing top line sales through a diverse range of programs. Franchising in a global world provides more advertising dollars to reach new markets, more viewpoints and learnings to share with others in the network, and more value to anyone eventually reselling their business.

Franchises in Print & Signage

Signarama credits a move towards digital more towards digital and growth in the traditional print media towards and continue to promote complete marketing and branding packages, in addition to their print services, as the economy continues to grow.

With a total revenue $479 Million, 2017 was another record year for FASTSIGNS, as well, one of the most successful franchise companies leading the industry in offering a broad mix of products and services that result in comprehensive visual communications solutions for their customers.

In 2017, FASTSIGNS opened 43 locations in the U.S. and Canada, as well as 3 in the U.K. They are also developing 16 master franchise centers throughout Malta, Italy, and Greece. Their full service US centers that are one year or older have increased their average unit volume by 6% to $833,114 (per shop) in 2017. FASTSIGNS also reports experiencing higher average invoice, higher profitability and are selling more complex projects.

Technology has helped franchises print and produce better and faster, and in some cases, it has allowed locations to reduce labor costs. Training and marketing support provided by connectivity in the technological era allow better support and immediate resolution of challenges experiences by franchisees. Many franchises, like FASTSIGNS, are relying on Outside Sales Professionals in the marketplace to share their story, promoting how they solve visual communications challenges using signs and graphics also made a big impact as we ended 2017 with 519 outside sales people worldwide.

Alliance credits their growth by emphasizing their experiential high end graphics and high profile organization branding.

Dan Werner, VP of Operations at Signworld Business Partners, recognizes the ability to grow business internationally so they are going after larger customers that use graphics on a global level. Their competitive marketing push seeks to boost sales to nearly a million dollars per shop in 2017 at a whopping $850,000. Their campaigns also serve to promote franchise opportunities to new prospects. With over 332 shops across the world, Signworld Business Partners brought in a revenue of $270 million in 2017.

SpeedPro Imaging reports that their biggest change in 2017 from 2016 was the introduction of Larry Oberly as the company’s new chief executive officer. Oberly, a franchise leader with over 25 years of experience as a franchisor and franchisee (including 10 years as vice president of global development at RE/MAX), joined the SpeedPro Imaging team on November 6, 2017.

SpeedPro Imaging's CEO, Larry Oberly, says he’s excited to grow the SpeedPro Imaging franchise system while providing current franchisees with unprecedented support and guidance. “2018 will be a breakout year for SpeedPro Imaging,” says Oberly. “We are creating a lot of momentum coming into the new year and look forward to further establishing our company as the national leader in large-format printing. The key to accomplishing that is turning our full attention to our franchisees – helping them become more profitable and efficient than ever before. We’re hard at work executing our new vision and we’re already seeing fantastic results. We’re excited to make 2018 the best year yet for everyone at SpeedPro Imaging.

SpeedPro Imaging is a business built on the professional service our studio owners (Franchise Partners) provide to clients. We apply a white-collar approach to a traditionally blue-collar industry. At SpeedPro Imaging, we pride ourselves on being marketing solutions providers. We help businesses grow by assessing clients’ wants and needs, then providing the best possible solutions for their business. The clientele and industry present endless challenges and opportunities for inventive thinking and innovative problem-solving.

Meanwhile, FASTSIGNS plans to grow their business in 2018 with continued implementation of our brand strategy focused on “More Than” products and services, ongoing training programs and expanded marketing initiatives, including increasing on national television advertising spend by 15% to garner 300 million impressions on 10 networks in the US and Canada. As a part of our “More Than” strategy, we will have a bigger focus on interior décor products, architectural signage and digital signage. We celebrated opening our 600th US location at the beginning of January, 2018 and have plans to open 45 new locations in the US and Canada, and 10 in other countries in 2018.

To bring new franchisee prospects, Alliance is focusing on additional education of clients to understand all of our capabilities and capacities through an enhanced web presence via SEO and PPC ad campaigns.

Several franchises are looking to make news beyond the US and North America this coming year and beyond.

Signarama has “a great network of very highly trained print professionals reaching across 72-plus countries,” says A.J. Titus. “We plan to expand even further: Our international department has an aggressive growth plan developed and is currently seeking out new global opportunities for Master Partners and Global Units.”

“Our independent business owners have unlimited sales fences, so each of them have the ability to focus on customers with a global footprint,” says Signworld’s Werner.

One thing is for sure, franchises are leading the way in small-business opportunities with multi-million dollar gains.