chrishaywoodfd: Franchise Business Review's 2012 Best of the Best Franchises ...

Aside from Entrepreneur Magazine?s Franchise 500 and AllBusiness.com?s Top 100 All Star Franchises, one of the most highly anticipated annual lists of the country?s top franchise opportunities is Franchise Business Review?s FBR50.? Based entirely on the results of a comprehensive survey designed to measure franchisee satisfaction, the FBR50 is the only franchise ranking that emphasizes this critical element.? Franchise Business Review?s survey includes 33 benchmark questions, relating to the franchisee?s experience and satisfaction as well as market area, business lifestyle, and other demographic characteristics.

For me, the primary weakness of this list is its small sample size ? just over 300 franchises, out of more than a thousand franchise opportunities.

Franchise Business Review is essentially a market research firm and franchisors pay to have their franchisees surveyed.? Some may argue that there is an inherent conflict of interest in the FBR50, but this list is still worth a look because it tells us which among the franchises in the sample performed the best. (Note:? In an email to Franchise Chatter, a representative of Franchise Business Review explained that franchise brands that want to participate in the awards program can do so for free, but they don?t receive any in-depth analysis on their results ? just an overall score.)

Also, I support Franchise Business Review?s focus on franchisee satisfaction because this is crucial for the long-term viability and growth of the franchise industry.

Aside from the FBR 50, Franchise Business Review awarded 155 franchises with Franchise Satisfaction Awards, grouped according to category (Food & Beverage, Child Services, etc.) and also ranked according to the size of the system (system with 200 or more units, 50 to 199 units, and less than 50 units).? But the list that really matters is the FBR50, presented below.

Home Instead Senior Care Logo 1.? Home Instead Senior Care

2.? Fitness Revolution

3.? Sotheby?s International Realty

4.? Heaven?s Best Carpet Cleaning

5.? Cruise Planners

6.? European Wax Center

7.? MaidPro

8.? FocalPoint Coaching

9.? Precision Concrete Cutting

10.? Weed Man

11.? Sandler Training

12.? CertaPro Painters

13.? Proforma

14.? Team Logic IT

15.? Computer Troubleshooters

16.? American Poolplayers Association

17.? Wildbirds Unlimited

18.? Budget Blinds

19.? DKI (Disaster Kleenup International)

20.? Christian Brothers Automotive

21.? FASTSIGNS International

22.? ASP ? America?s Swimming Pool Company

23.? Aire Master of America

24.? Fish Window Cleaning Services

25.? Zoom Room

26.? Palm Beach Tan

27.? Two Men and a Truck

28.? Rhea?s Lana

29.? Anago Cleaning Systems (Master Franchisor)

30.? Visiting Angels

31.? Homewatch CareGivers

32.? G.J. Gardner Homes

33.? United Country Real Estate

34.? Jan-Pro (Master Franchisees)

35.? Firehouse Subs

36.? Cruise One

37.? Aaron?s

38.? Truly Nolen of America

39.? Snap-On Tools

40.? Auntie Anne?s

41.? InXpress

42.? Right at Home

43.? BrightStar

44.? Jet?s Pizza

45.? Ground Round

46.? East Coast Wings & Grill

47.? AdvantaClean

48.? Baby Boot Camp

49.? Miracle Method Surface Refinishing

50.? Just Between Friends

I received word from my contact at Franchise Business Review that, sometime next month, they will be releasing a special report on the top companies in the FBR50 and on the state of franchising in 2012. Here?s a sneak peek at some of the data they compiled this past January from surveying more than 22,000 franchisees, representing more than 300 brands.

In general, satisfaction is up again this year over last ? by 2% overall and by 3.5% among the award-winners. This percentage increase is significantly less than last year?s, when it was up 8%, but it?s still continuing to improve with the economy.

The most popular sectors by satisfaction are: Cleaning & Maintenance, Fitness, Health & Beauty, Pets, and Senior Care (These categories run 5-10% above the average satisfaction). Food and Hotels are running 5-10% below average.

Franchisee profitability is also up about 2% year-over-year, which is another sign that the economy is continuing to recover. The most profitable categories (by average profitability) are Senior Care, Food, and Business Services. Compare this with the average initial investment of those categories: Senior Care ($98K), Food ($480K, not including real estate), and Business Services ($164K).

Although profitability is up, franchisee satisfaction with local market competitiveness has dropped from a rating of 66 in 2010, to a rating of 59 in 2011 ? an 11% drop in just 1 year!

Please check back in March for more details on Franchise Business Review?s report on the state of franchising in 2012.