Franchise Talk

Get An MBA Or Buy A Franchise? College Hunks Hauling Junk Weighs In

July 21st, 2009 | Author: Jack

Many college undergrads and recent grads are contemplating whether to obtain an MBA. While often viewed as a career accelerator, an MBA does require major commitments of money and time.

Usually, there are four determining factors: cost, time involved, return on investment and job market. But, now there’s a fifth consideration: get an MBA or spend the same amount of money to purchase a franchise?

To pay for an MBA, most people work part-time at low wages while enrolled, deplete their personal or parents’ savings, and obtain student loans that must be repaid. However, going the franchise route can provide a fast and lifetime income that often exceeds the income of those with MBAs.

After getting laid off from his job as a television producer in New York, 26-year-old Dan Ryan considered getting his master’s degree. He then weighed his options.

“I’d spend the same amount of money furthering my education as I would to open a franchise,” said Ryan. “If I got my master’s degree it wouldn’t guarantee a job, especially in today’s job market.”

Ryan and his business partner, 25-year-old Patrick Lipa, opened a College Hunks Hauling Junk franchise in Detroit in April. Both are already very pleased with the results.

“I’m not saying, ‘don’t get a master’s degree.’ But, I did the research and made the best educated decision for me,” Ryan said. “Opening the franchise will show a better return on my investment in the long-run.”

According to Nick Friedman, president of College Hunks Hauling Junk, several of his franchise owners are recent college graduates, which is not the typical franchise owner profile.

“Rather than spending $95,000 and two years getting an MBA, more and more people are using the money to open a franchise,” said Friedman. “And, in less than two years they own a cash-producing asset.”

Friedman and his business partner, Omar Soliman, brought a clean-cut image to junk removal by recruiting college students to haul away customers’ unwanted items. The temporary summer gig started in 2005 has grown into a multi-truck, multi-million-dollar franchise operation with locations across the country.

“Franchising allows people to go into business for themselves but not by themselves,” Friedman said. “It offers a much more secure method of entrepreneurship.”