The 10 best franchises in the Australian market

We have covered this before, but I think we need to focus on this issue again - there is no such thing as the BEST franchise in any market.

But fear not, we do have a 'criteria rich' list below!

How do you compare a bakery, to a car dealership, to a pet groomer, to a home maintenance service, to a fitness studio, to a fast food restaurant and more?

And, what do you base the comparison on?

And there certainly is no official list of the best in Australia!

So yes, the title of this piece could be a little irritating to you just a couple of lines in.

But, I have an important reason for highlighting this - they can give false impressions of success in assessing which franchise business to invest in.

Look for the real criteria of a list

The key is the criteria for any such list, and we do have a pretty strong criteria-backed list below, so you’ll still get your list on this page!

But, I get so frustrated when I see so many paper-thin lists claiming that the franchises they have included on it are the best, leading, and whatever other descriptor they choose to use.

Some have no apparent criteria at all, and some have a defined criteria, however only the brands you see on it were part of building the list.

It is not clear what the full picture and background of the list is in many of these, that’s what irritates me about it. 

And I see some brands appearing prominently on varying ‘best’ or similar lists, who I know are going backwards, or with no traction in the market.

Most ‘lists’ are for Google (SEO)

Many of the lists (not all) you see out there ranking franchises are pretty random. 

And actually, many of them on franchises in Australia, are created by offshore websites trying to rank for search terms in Australia to appeal to you. 

Many are just regurgitated information thrown together with a random set of brand names. The same approach is often replicated across many countries across the world.

For instance, the lists we’ve been creating at franchise buyer for a period now, are all based purely on the number of franchises in a brand, thus, the ‘Biggest’ franchises, with an explicitly defined criteria.

We don’t even ask brands any detail, or have yet to let any know in advance they are in any of our lists. 

It’s our own deep-dive research into the franchise market by niche.

About as close you can get

Based on the criteria, this is a seriously solid list below of franchise brands. 

In this list, they have all paid of their own accord, and invited in an independent franchise rating reviewer, FRANdata, who have been reviewing franchise brands and interpreting franchise performance for more than 30 years.

Now, there are over 1,000 franchise brands in the Australian marketplace, and only just over 30 so far, have invited this thorough review of their business.

And just 11 have been rated the maximum 5 Stars through FRANdata's Australian Franchise Rating Scale

Listed in alphabetical order they are:

1. ANZ Mobile Lending
2. Golden Casket
3. Gutter-Vac
4. NSW Lotteries
5. PACK & SEND
6. Poolwerx
7. Quest
8. SA Lotteries
9. Snap Fitness
10. Tatts
11. The Cheesecake Shop

Note: We added the 11th brand in there, as it makes sense to add all who have rated the highest 5 Star level possible.

The criteria

As I mentioned up top, the criteria is everything to any list of why a franchise is sitting in the top of a list. 

The criteria that these brands have all been through is ‘rigorous’ as explained in an overview by FRANdata’s Darryn McAuliffe.

They rated 5 Star having been reviewed across the following 7 Categories (criteria) and showing:

1. A disciplined growth rate (supported by the review of the last 5 years of franchise disclosure documents looking for excessive exits and unchecked growth),
2. Sound franchisee financial metrics (sales turnover, profitability and other financial benchmarks),
3. A sound franchisor financial position (based on the last 3 years final accounts of the franchise system entity),
4. A healthy approach and outcomes for franchisee satisfaction and engagement (measuring, monitoring and meaningful actions),
5. A demonstrated culture of compliance,
6. The existence of strong lending relationships with finance providers (to assist franchisees to secure funding),
7. Strong Establishment and Support services by the franchisor. (positioning franchisees for early success,  effective ongoing support, recognising early warning signs and specific support actions to assist and improve the performance of franchisees.)

By any measure, a pretty impressive result for these 11 brands.

So, please do keep all this in mind next time you stumble across a ‘best franchise’ list!