What Franchise Owners Want You to Know in 2026

A view of franchising

One of the things we tell people when investing in a franchise is to always, always, always speak to one of their existing franchisees first. They will be able to tell you about their experience and how they find the support structures, the people and the journey so far. You will not get a more honest assessment of the franchise than from the people doing it every day.

So, who better than to give us a view of franchising in 2026 than the people running, owning, advising and supplying them right? To this end, in January we launched ‘Question of the Month’. Each month we ask our members – that’s 350 franchisors, over 2,000 franchisees and 100+ advisors and suppliers – to answer a question on a relevant franchising topic.

We wanted to be able to take a quick pulse check of our members’ thoughts, on pertinent subjects, without having to run a long and expensive survey.

Alongside the question, we also gave members the option to leave us a comment and we’ve been overwhelmed with the thoughts they’ve been leaving us.

Business confidence and a clear roadmap

In January we asked, ‘How confident are you about your business plans for 2026?’

• 28.3% said ‘Very Confident’
• 49.1% said ‘Fairly Confident’
• 20.8% said ‘A bit uncertain’
• 1.9% said ‘Not confident right now’

The vast majority felt either ‘fairly’ or ‘very’ confident which certainly reflects what we’re hearing. Most interesting were the comments. For instance, The Creation Station said: “Demand for our creative classes has increased by 29% and we have a waiting list of over 300 schools for our workshops.”

Another franchisor said: “I’m very confident about the year ahead. We spent a lot of Q3 and Q4 last year really planning out what we wanted to achieve in 2026, so we’re coming into this year with a clear roadmap. We’ve got some exciting improvements lined up for our franchise package and support, including introducing AI and developing our new management software. We’re also continuing our journey to become a greener business and to make more of a positive impact in our local communities. It’s been great to have that planning time behind us, and now we’re ready to make it all happen.”

And relatively cautious viewpoints remain hopeful in the context of the strength of the franchise model. Driver Hire reported: “Our outlook for 2026 is positive, however, the degree of success will be influenced by external factors, notably ongoing economic uncertainty and the potential implications of the Employment Rights Bill/Act. While these macro conditions present challenges, our own activities should help ensure we remain well-positioned to perform strongly.”

Women in franchising

In February we posed the question: “What do you think attracts a woman most to a career in franchising?”

• 62.2% said flexibility/work-life balance
• 21.6% said low-risk route to business ownership
• 10.8% said training and support
• 5.4% said community support and peer networking

Women are thought to be traditionally debt averse; banks will tell you they are much more likely to come to them with a fully-worked-out business plan after long, careful consideration before asking for a loan than their male counterparts, so it was good to see the low-risk’ aspect of franchise ownership come in at second place.

As in January, we were delighted to receive a host of wonderful comments from respondents, many of them franchisees who are running successful franchise businesses.

Helen McEvoy a franchisee with the Holiday Franchise Company said: “Going it completely alone can be daunting. The support I get from my franchisor is unparalleled. They are brilliant and support me each step of the way. I get to run my own business, be independent, but am wrapped in a supportive and encouraging network of professionals – the perfect combination!” Jenna Wilson, co-founder and CEO of Little Dreams described franchising as: “The perfect opportunity for those who want to thrive professionally without missing out on life’s most important moments”

Your franchising career in 2026

We work hard to support our members at the BFA and look forward to posing many more questions to them over the coming months, to ensure we understand where their businesses are at and what’s important to them as the year goes on.