MAM
How to start a franchise: Step-by-step guide
Mumbai: Unlike starting an entirely new business, when one buys a franchise, it already has a business model and brand image that may be used to its advantage. This prevents one from investing time and risk into building the venture right from scratch, thus giving the new business owners a very good possibility of success.
Franchise businesses can come with a hefty upfront investment or a negligible one. The investment varies across sectors and brands, besides the locations. Major costs include franchise fees, royalties, initial investments, and marketing fees. The franchise fee can vary anywhere between 1 Lakh to 30 Lakh, or even more which is paid for the brand usage and the business model of the franchisor. Then, one must consider the cost for leasing, renovation, equipment, supplies, and setting up technology. Royalties comprise typically four per cent to 15 per cent of monthly earnings. Lastly, there is a certain percentage of marketing fees that one must pay.
Legal compliances:
Making a franchise agreement under the Indian Contract Act, 1872, which describes rights and responsibilities. Registration of the franchisor’s trademark has to be given under the Trade Marks Act of 1999. Lastly, the franchise shall be registered as a private limited company, corporation, or sole proprietorship under the Companies Act, 2013. All these legal steps make the franchise operate under the ambit of Indian business laws.
Getting started
Step 1: Pick an industry
Starting a business means an intensive commitment of resources — thus, one better make sure they are going into an industry they can work on day in and day out. Remember, at this stage, it should be passion over profit, for the more one is driven and engulfed with a venture, the likelier it will be to succeed.
Step 2: Research competition
Looking at franchise opportunities within the target locality could be helpful to gauge the amount of effort you will need and it can also be an indication of the success of the franchise. If there is competition ask whether the businesses are profitable and if there isn’t any, seek to know why is that.
Step 3: Cost Consideration
Becoming a franchisee might require a large financial commitment. Ensuring that one has the upfront funds as well as operational costs. Also, consider whether the business is profitable after royalties.
Step 4: Develop a Business Plan
An ideal next step after the opportunity has been identified is the creation of a business plan. Although this is supplied by many corporations upon acceptance, having an own to edit while working out a unique strategy and showing the franchisor how capable a partner is. A business plan should include market analysis, management plan, and customer service.
Step 5: Creation of Business Entity
Next up, establish a business entity. This means a business entity will shield a business owner from personal risk except, of course, for a sole proprietorship-so it’s smart to have an LLC or corporation set up. Most franchisors will have requirements regarding business entities, so it’s important to check with the company.
Step 6: Meet franchise licence requirements
This is the time when one needs to apply and go through the process of franchise licensing. This can be likened to a job application; Interviews are taken to ascertain whether one is qualified and capable. Once this exercise has been completed, a franchise licence agreement is signed.
Step 7: Find a location
The next step is to find a suitable location. Franchise rules set by the franchisor will likely dictate where a business can be located, and often Franchisors provide help to find a retail space. While this is happening, look for areas that have a good mix of foot traffic to affordable rent.
Step 8: Equipment ordering and human resource hiring
Now, it’s the time to order essential equipment and start interviewing employee candidates. Most of these are financial burdens that must be carried by the franchisees, although the parent company can provide assistance in the form of preferred vendors for equipment and templates for hiring. Automation processes like communication automation can save resources.
When all the above is done, one can open the doors. The parent company may also have contracted an advertisement campaign to announce its new location in town. The rest from here is left is for one to make decisions on how to manage and maintain a profitable business.
This article has been written by FranchiseBatao CEO and founder of Ashish Agrawal
MAM
ASCI study uncovers how Gen Alpha navigates ads in endless digital feeds
‘What the Sigma?’ ethnographic report maps blurred boundaries between content and commerce for 7–15-year-olds.
MUMBAI: Gen Alpha isn’t scrolling through the internet, they’re living rent-free inside its never-ending dopamine drip, and the ads have already moved in next door. The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) Academy, partnering with Futurebrands Consulting, has published ‘What the Sigma?’, an immersive ethnographic study that maps how Indian children aged 7–15 (Generation Alpha) consume, interpret and live alongside media and commercial messaging in a hyper-digital environment.
The research draws on in-home interviews, sibling and peer conversations, and discussions with parents, teachers, counsellors, psychologists, marketers and kidfluencers across six cities. It examines not only what children watch but how algorithms, content creators, peers and parents shape their relationship with the constant stream of shorts, vlogs, gameplay, memes, sponsored posts and ‘kid-ified’ adult material.
Five core themes emerged:
- Discontinuous Generation, Gen Alpha is not growing up alongside the internet, they are growing up inside it. Cultural references, humour, aesthetics and language sync globally in real time, often leaving adults functionally illiterate in their children’s world. A reference that lands instantly for a 10-year-old in Mumbai or Visakhapatnam feels opaque or disjointed to most parents.
- Authority Vacuum, Parents and teachers frequently lose cultural fluency in digital spaces. The algorithm responsive, inexhaustible and perfectly attuned to preferences becomes the most attentive presence in many children’s daily lives. Rules around screen time feel increasingly difficult to enforce when adults cannot fully see or understand the content landscape.
- Digital as Society, Online and offline no longer exist as separate realms, they form one continuous reality. The phone is not a tool children pick up; it is the primary social environment they inhabit.
- Great Media Mukbang, Content flows as an ambient, boundary-less, multi-sensorial stream. Entertainment, advertising, commerce, gameplay, memes and vlogs merge into one undifferentiated feed. The line between active choice and passive absorption has largely collapsed.
- Blurred Ad Recognition, Children aged 7–12 typically recognise only the most overt advertising formats. Influencer promotions, gaming integrations and vlog sponsorships often register as organic entertainment. Children aged 13–15 show greater ad literacy but remain highly susceptible to narrative-integrated, passion-driven and emotionally resonant brand messaging. Discernment remains low across the board in a non-stop stream.
ASCI CEO and secretary general Manisha Kapoor said, “ASCI Academy’s study is an investigation into the content life of Generation Alpha not to judge them but to understand them. Their cultural reference points seem disjointed from those of earlier generations. Insights on how they perceive advertising is the first step towards building more responsible engagement frameworks, given that they are the youngest media consumers in our country right now.”
Futurebrands Consulting founder and director Santosh Desai added, “While earlier generations have been exposed to digital media, for this generation it is the world they inhabit. This report explores not only what they watch but how they are being shaped by algorithms, content and advertising.”
The study proposes four adaptive, principles-led pathways:
- Universal signposting of commercial intent using design principles that make advertising recognisable even to young audiences.
- Ecosystem-wide responsibility shared among advertisers, platforms, creators, schools and parents.
- Future-ready safeguards built directly into children’s content experiences rather than as optional background settings.
- Formal media and advertising literacy embedded in school curricula to teach age-appropriate understanding of persuasion and commercial intent.
In a feed that never pauses, Gen Alpha isn’t merely watching content, they’re swimming in an ocean where entertainment, commerce and identity swirl together. The real question isn’t whether they can spot an ad; it’s whether the adults building the ocean can agree on where the lifeguards should stand.
