Most Franchise Buyers Barely Know the Brands They Inquire About.
Fewer than one in ten franchise inquirers know the brands they contact well. Awareness is won during discovery, not at the moment of inquiry.
A surprising number
It would be natural to assume that people who inquire about a franchise already know the brand. Survey data says otherwise. According to Franchise Insights, only 8.7% of inquirers described themselves as very familiar with the franchises they contacted, while 72.3% inquired about brands they barely knew (Franchise Insights, 2026 (opens in a new tab)).
For most buyers, the inquiry is not the end of a long relationship with a brand. It is the beginning of one.
Why this happens
Most franchise brands are not household names. Even well-established systems are known mainly to their customers in the markets they serve, not to the professionals, career changers, and investors who might become franchisees. A buyer exploring a category encounters brands for the first time while researching, and decides within that same research session whether a brand is worth a conversation.
What it means for franchise brands
Awareness is earned in the category, not assumed. If buyers meet brands while exploring categories, the place where a brand appears during that exploration matters as much as the brand itself.
First impressions carry more weight. A buyer who barely knows a brand forms an opinion from what they see first: how clearly the opportunity is explained, how credible the information feels, and how easy it is to take the next step.
Brand-name search is a narrow door. Investing only in being found by name reaches the small group who already know you. The larger group, the 72% who are discovering brands as they go, has to be reached earlier.
Where buyers are discovering brands
Franchise Insights’ research points to directory sites and search as the main discovery tools, with prospects relying on them to compare options and encounter concepts they did not know before (Franchise Insights, 2026 (opens in a new tab)). Directories present many brands side by side. A category destination presents one brand as the concept leading its category, which gives an unfamiliar brand the context and credibility to stand out.
The bottom line
Most franchise buyers meet a brand for the first time while they are researching. The brands that win the inquiry are the ones present during discovery, explained clearly, and easy to contact.
See how Webperties approaches discovery on the homepage.
Source: Franchise Insights, published by Franchise Ventures. Figures from its surveys of franchise prospects.
Al Gonzalez leads Webperties, a digital company that builds, owns, and operates digital assets and partners with brands to lead their categories. Webperties has been building online businesses since 1999.