Full Transcript for Franchise Sales Data and Franchise Marketing Data - May 2026

12-month moving average. 00:05:08.879 --> 00:05:13.040 A reading above 50% indicates a services sector economy is generally expanding. 00:05:13.199 --> 00:05:17.600 Below 50% indicates that it is generally contracting. 00:05:17.759 --> 00:05:25.279 A services PMI above 48.1% over time generally indicates an expansion of the overall economy. 00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:31.920 Therefore, the March services PMI indicates the overall economy is expanding for the 70th straight month. 00:05:32.319 --> 00:05:42.079 So we can see a nice uh incline and uh uh uh in in this uh reading here, really dating back to about September of 25. 00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:50.079 It looks like maybe August, September, uh, where you see this uh nice uh upward cycle here um on this. 00:05:50.160 --> 00:06:04.959 So 2025 was interesting because you had this kind of falling from 2024 highs uh to about mid-year or so in 2025, and then it started ramping back up and at the end of 2025, coming into 2026. 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:08.800 So uh all in all, a good indicator for us. 00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:12.240 Next, let's take a look at the unemployment rate. 00:06:12.399 --> 00:06:29.199 Um and the unemployment rate uh this is from TradingEconomics.com, the United States unemployment rate, and it says the US unemployment rate fell to 4.3% in March 2026 from 4.4% in February, below market expectations of 4.4%. 00:06:29.759 --> 00:06:39.839 The number of unemployed decreased by 332,000 to 7.239 million, while total employment fell by 64,000 to 162.85 million. 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:50.000 Labor force declined by 396,000 to 170.09 million, pushing the participation rate down 0.1 percentage point to 61.9%. 00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:59.600 Meanwhile, the broader U6 unemployment rate, which includes discouraged and underemployed workers, rose to 8% from 7.9%. 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:01.279 And the source is from the U.S. 00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:03.279 Bureau of Labour Labor Statistics. 00:07:03.439 --> 00:07:10.399 So you can see here 4.3% that uh in in general, we see uh uh this is starting to move down. 00:07:10.639 --> 00:07:23.360 We can take a look at the 10-year trend here, which is helpful to see back in 2016, you see a slow, steady decline in the unemployment rate up through about uh February of 2020. 00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:27.279 Then uh COVID hit in 20 uh March of 2020. 00:07:27.360 --> 00:07:44.079 We see the big spike, all of the activity starting to happen in unemployment, um, and then it dropping down and uh looking to kind of bottom out in early 2023 at about 3.6%, and then slowly coming up over the last few years. 00:07:44.160 --> 00:07:49.040 And it looks like it's maybe starting to trend down just a bit here for the unemployment rate. 00:07:49.199 --> 00:07:55.759 So, to me, all in all, I think this is over overall uh uh tends to be a positive uh sign. 00:07:56.079 --> 00:08:02.959 And it also means that it might be harder for your franchisees to be finding and recruiting quality people. 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:05.120 Uh, so keep that in mind. 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:16.720 We have the US inflation rate, and in March, that inflation rate bumped up three point to 3.3% from 2.4 percent. 00:08:16.800 --> 00:08:18.720 So a pretty substantial jump. 00:08:18.959 --> 00:08:24.959 And it said this is from tradingeconomics.com uh about the United States inflation and CPI. 00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:39.840 It says the annual inflation rate in the US jumped 3.2 jumped to 3.3% in March of 2026, marketing the highest, marking the highest level since May of 24, and a sharp increase from 2.4 percent in February and January. 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:53.440 Figures came in line with forecasts, with the rise primarily driven by higher energy costs, 12.5%, mostly gasoline, which was up 18.9%, and fuel oil up 44.2 percent due to the war with Iran. 00:08:53.600 --> 00:09:07.759 So we see that this this increase is largely driven from um uh global uh issues and and uh uh international uh relations issues here that we see impacting this. 00:09:07.840 --> 00:09:19.279 Uh so you may be seeing that, feeling that definitely at the uh at the gas pump uh when you're filling up, or uh and if you run a business that relies on fuel, uh just be mindful. 00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:39.279 Uh just uh something worth noting if you're selling franchises or working with your franchisees, it might be worth noting that they may need to put a temporary surcharge in uh just to help uh adjust their prices uh during these uh higher increased fuel cost uh windows. 00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:52.639 So just keep that perspective in mind and uh have a plan for your franchisees if if you have a uh uh service services business, commercial or home services where maybe you're driving or commuting or you have a mobile business. 00:09:52.799 --> 00:09:56.480 Uh, just know to be have a plan or to be talking about that. 00:09:57.120 --> 00:10:05.279 Okay, next up here is the uh uh uh surveys of consumers from the University of Michigan. 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:18.720 And there's the index of consumer sentiment, and we'll just take a look at the last 10 years here, and you can see as I zoom in, you know, the survey uh sentiment is at uh really some of its lowest levels. 00:10:18.879 --> 00:10:28.559 It looks like it's almost equal to where it was at the in the middle of 2022, which is the lowest point it had been at in 10 years. 00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:37.919 And then if we look at the 50-year cycle, we're basically about as low as the survey of consumer sentiment was around 19. 00:10:38.240 --> 00:10:40.960 Uh this looks like around 1980 or so. 00:10:41.039 --> 00:10:50.639 It's kind of hard to tell get precise on this uh chart here because it's 50 years out, but uh it looks like right around 1980 or so is when that that bottomed out. 00:10:50.879 --> 00:11:00.960 So hopefully uh, you know, uh it looks like based off of this chart, it's it it's uh a rare territory that it's been this low.

00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:05.200 Um, and it's rare that it's been this low for uh any extended period of time. 00:11:05.360 --> 00:11:09.279 So hopefully that means the only place where we can go is up, hopefully. 00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:14.639 Fingers crossed, you know, and uh get that consumer sentiment up and moving. 00:11:15.120 --> 00:11:22.320 Okay, next up is from the US Census Bureau, and this is for new business formation statistics. 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:26.320 This came out in on April 8th of 2026. 00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:34.960 And when you click in on this, it shows the number of new business uh applications that have been filed across the country. 00:11:35.200 --> 00:11:49.840 And it reads US business applications, total US business applications in March of 2026 was 491,000, which was down 0.9% from uh February of 2026. 00:11:50.080 --> 00:12:00.559 But all in all, you can see how new business applications is surging. 00:12:00.799 --> 00:12:13.840 And uh just over the last even uh four years or or so, three years or so from uh uh uh dating back uh to around uh 20 middle of uh right around 2024. 00:12:13.919 --> 00:12:22.000 So I guess the last two, two and a half years, you can see it was around 400, maybe 20,000, 425,000 or so. 00:12:22.080 --> 00:12:30.559 Uh and now you see the surge, it's trending just under 500,000 the last few months, just under just over 500,000 new business applications. 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:32.000 So, why does this matter? 00:12:32.159 --> 00:12:51.519 Well, to me, what does it that this says that if you are uh uh if you if you're in franchise sales and you're talking to prospects, know that uh uh entrepreneurship and the startup mindset is on the hearts and minds of the people you're talking to. 00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:54.559 So keep that perspective in mind as you go through it. 00:12:54.720 --> 00:13:01.440 So they are likely thinking about seriously starting their own business, whether they buy your franchise or start their own. 00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:06.480 Uh that that to me is a big indicator of what's happening there. 00:13:07.279 --> 00:13:15.600 Okay, let's take a look at some of the franchiseinsights.com data and information that's come out. 00:13:15.919 --> 00:13:22.480 So this is from uh April 1st, 2026, by Michael Alston for Franchise Insights. 00:13:22.639 --> 00:13:30.480 And the heading reads: two-thirds of franchise prospects say AI impacts their interest in business ownership. 00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:34.480 So two-thirds of franchise prospects say AI impacts their business ownership. 00:13:34.559 --> 00:13:37.440 Uh 34% said it has no impact. 00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:43.679 Uh, 30% says it makes me favor businesses that would be less likely to be displaced by AI. 00:13:43.919 --> 00:13:51.600 26% said it boosts their desire to control their own destiny rather than losing their current occupation to AI. 00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:57.679 24% said it makes them want to find a business enhanced or enabled by AI. 00:13:57.840 --> 00:14:01.120 12% said it reduces the amount of capital they have to invest. 00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:07.120 6% said they've put their ambitions on hold and wait to uh see how things unfold. 00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:09.039 And 6% said other. 00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:23.519 So, bottom line is people out there that are thinking about starting a franchise, starting a business, buying a franchise, uh, you know, about a third are saying it's gonna have no impact, and two-thirds are saying it's gonna impact them in some way. 00:14:23.679 --> 00:14:34.639 Uh, and from reading this, it it looks like the majority uh this is going to make them want to buy into a business or a franchise to take control of their own destiny. 00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:44.159 So the second report we're gonna look at is um was released on Wednesday this week, April 22nd of 2026. 00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:52.960 And this uh heading is franchise development prospects believe they possess the strengths to own their own franchises. 00:14:53.360 --> 00:15:01.360 So this is a these are franchise prospects top three self-reported strengths for franchise ownership. 00:15:01.600 --> 00:15:08.159 So the number one highest percentage was grit, persistence towards a goal despite obstacles. 00:15:08.320 --> 00:15:11.600 58.5% said that they have that skill. 00:15:11.840 --> 00:15:17.200 55.4% said they have a willing that they have a willingness to follow a proven system. 00:15:17.600 --> 00:15:21.360 52.3% said team leadership experience. 00:15:21.519 --> 00:15:25.840 Those are the top three, and it's a top three by a pretty significant number. 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:32.320 Uh 38.5% uh said that they uh have prior business ownership. 00:15:32.480 --> 00:15:36.559 Uh 33.8% said they have access to sufficient startup capital. 00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:47.679 30.8% said they have a supportive spouse or partner, and 27.7% said they experienced that they have experience in business in the business segment they are pursuing. 00:15:47.919 --> 00:15:58.960 So the the thing I look at are these top three, and that half of the responses showed that they have grit, a willingness to follow system, and team leadership experience. 00:15:59.120 --> 00:16:08.000 Now, these are self-assessed results, but if you're choosing, these are three pretty good ones that you'd love to see at the top if you're selling franchises. 00:16:09.519 --> 00:16:23.919 Okay, next up here is a report from April 15th, 2026, that uh uh Michael Alston prepared for franchise insights, and it says solutions to the enigma of failed initial contact with prospects. 00:16:24.159 --> 00:16:28.720 It says, Were you contacted by the franchises you requested information from? 00:16:29.039 --> 00:16:37.679 So 40.2% of prospects said that they were contacted by all of the franchises that reached out to them. 00:16:38.399 --> 00:16:50.960 16.6% said at least half, 14.2% said less than half, and 29% said none of them.

00:16:51.440 --> 00:16:53.279 So uh what does that mean? 00:16:53.440 --> 00:17:17.279 Well, that that means what we're seeing on here is that about 34%, roughly 34% uh or 33% of all 33.2% of all responders of all leads, according to the survey, 33.2% of franchise systems did not contact these buyers. 00:17:17.920 --> 00:17:24.559 And that means that uh you know, we're looking at uh let's see 50, what is that? 00:17:24.720 --> 00:17:33.119 56.8%, 56.8% said that all of them or at least half had reached out to them. 00:17:33.440 --> 00:17:35.039 So that's that's pretty substantial. 00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:41.759 So you got uh oh, I think I said 30 33, it should be 43.2 percent. 00:17:41.920 --> 00:17:50.880 43.2 percent were less than half or none, and then uh 56.8 percent said all of them or at least half. 00:17:51.119 --> 00:17:57.279 So just just worth noting, plenty of room for improvement for franchise ours and franchise salespeople. 00:17:57.440 --> 00:18:17.200 Uh and uh if if maybe there's a good chance you did contact them or you did reach out to them, but still 43% are saying they were not contacted or less than half were contacted, which means maybe they didn't get your email, maybe it went to a spam, maybe they didn't check your text, maybe you didn't leave a voicemail, and they would have gotten that. 00:18:17.359 --> 00:18:20.720 So just some food for thought and things worth noting. 00:18:21.680 --> 00:18:28.079 And then on March 8th of 26, uh Michael Alston wrote, uh prepared this report for franchise insights. 00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:33.759 It says small business startup sentiment rebounds for second month. 00:18:34.079 --> 00:18:42.160 So uh it says uh March 8th, 2026, startup sentiment rebounded for the second consecutive month in March 2026. 00:18:42.319 --> 00:18:58.079 Surveys as business buyer surveys showed that 64.0% of persons exploring ownership agree or strongly agree that, quote, now is a good time for startup, unquote, up from a recent low of 30% in December. 00:18:58.240 --> 00:18:59.359 So what does that mean? 00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:14.000 Well, December was going to be a uh uh you know a bit of a challenging time where uh and even looking back at November, those numbers were pretty low, and it really dropped down in uh September, September of 25. 00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:20.799 It did pop back in November, but September of 25, uh there's really a consistent trend of going downward. 00:19:20.880 --> 00:19:25.440 And now we see the last two months with February and March, this is coming up. 00:19:25.519 --> 00:19:28.799 Uh, that that the sentiment is improving. 00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:44.640 So that that means it should be a little bit easier to be selling a franchise last month uh or in February in March, and hopefully that's continuing into the month of uh into the month of uh uh April. 00:19:45.839 --> 00:19:51.599 Okay, next up on our list here are the top 10 business opportunity categories. 00:19:51.759 --> 00:20:01.599 So the this is from franchiseinsights.com and it said it reads the following business opportunity categories showed the greatest inquiries in the last 90 days. 00:20:01.839 --> 00:20:13.839 And so I'm pretty sure this is the franchise list here, and it shows that home services accounted for 26.9% of all franchise inquiries or of all business opportunity inquiries. 00:20:14.079 --> 00:20:25.200 20 uh business services accounted for 23.3 percent, senior and health care was 10.3%, clean in and maintenance 8.6 percent, food and restaurant 5.6%. 00:20:25.599 --> 00:20:27.359 Those are your top five. 00:20:27.680 --> 00:20:39.039 Then the next five are child related, 5.1%, retail 4.2%, pet services 3.1%, automotive 2.6%, and education 2.6%. 00:20:39.599 --> 00:20:40.880 So what does this mean? 00:20:41.119 --> 00:20:55.279 Well, to me, what it means is that uh what I found over the years is if you're in if your category is at or above 10% of category share, uh, it's gonna be easier, it should be easier to find leads. 00:20:55.440 --> 00:20:59.119 So home services, business services, senior and healthcare, those are above 10%. 00:20:59.839 --> 00:21:05.599 Under 10%, um, it's still a strong case, especially if you're in the top 10 categories. 00:21:05.759 --> 00:21:16.559 So these top 10 categories means if you're in a top 10 category in general, it should mean that it's a bit easier to find the number of leads you're looking for. 00:21:17.200 --> 00:21:21.839 So um that is our episode today, here, folks. 00:21:21.920 --> 00:21:25.440 Um, I'd love to ask for any questions if anyone has any questions. 00:21:25.599 --> 00:21:37.839 And while I'm waiting for those to come in, just a reminder if you have not subscribed to our podcast, please do so at franchiseyourbusiness or our second podcast, Multiply Your Success. 00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:48.640 Or if you're a YouTuber and you love YouTube, please like and follow uh our YouTube channel where you get updates on the content that we are regularly producing. 00:21:48.880 --> 00:21:52.640 I am so thankful that for everyone to have joined us here. 00:21:52.720 --> 00:22:01.680 Uh, please make sure if you are ready to have a conversation about franchising your business or growing your franchise system, reach out to us at BigSkyFranchise Team.com. 00:22:01.839 --> 00:22:05.759 We've got some great, great offerings going on right now that we'd love to share with you. 00:22:05.920 --> 00:22:13.200 You can visit us at BigSkyfranchiseteam.com to schedule your free no obligation consultation. 00:22:13.359 --> 00:22:14.880 Thanks for being here, everyone. 00:22:15.200 --> 00:22:20.000 We look forward to our next session and seeing you all soon. 00:22:20.160 --> 00:22:21.599 Have a great weekend.