Rajat was studying in class X. He had to drop out from school as his family could not afford it. He had to take a job of a peon in an office to provide money for his family. He lost his job at the office as the bank interest rate had gone up and the office was finding it difficult to meet expenses. On his way home he stoped at a snack stall to eat something. There he got the idea of opening his own snack stall. Rajat went to meet Mr Om, who was known to his father and used to give finance to people in need. Mr. Om agreed to give finance to Rajat. Rajat took 2 lakhs from Mr. Om and purchased a stall for ₹80,000 and some utensils and gas for ₹20,000. He purchased vegetables, bread, oil, spices etc for ₹10,000, cups, plats and disposable items for ₹5,000. He decided to make sandwiches and sell them for ₹50 each as the competition was high and he wanted customers to come to his stall. He named his food stall "Paras food stall."

In the disposable item, Paras also purchased some boxes so that customers who wanted to take the food home can be given in the boxes. This increased his cost by ₹6,000. By the end of the year, the demand of the sandwiches made by Rajat increased and earned a profit of ₹80,000 after paying taxes.

Due to the popularity of the sandwiches of Rajat, his two friends approached him and asked Rajat if he could help them. Rajat told them that he will manufacture the sandwiches and they would be given the right to distribute them in different parts of the city. The cost of production reduced as Rajat now had to produce in bulk. Rajat's friends are also very happy as all the sandwiches got sold and everyone knew about the sandwiches made by Rajat.

Identify the type of franchise used by Rajat where he allowed his friends to distribute his products.

Product franchise

The correct answer is option (4) - Product franchise.

Considering the limited scope of their involvement in product distribution and brand association, a product franchise best describes the arrangement between Rajat and his friends.

Product franchise business opportunity: Manufacturers use the product franchise to govern how a retailer distributes their products. The manufacturer grants a store owner the authority to distribute goods by the manufacturer and allows the owner to use the name and trademark owned by the manufacturer. The store owner must pay a fee or purchase a minimum inventory of stock in return for these rights. Some tire stores are good examples of this type of franchise.

Manufacturing franchise opportunity: These types of franchises provide an organization with the right to manufacture a product and sell it to the public, using the franchisor's name and trademark. This type of franchise is found most often in the food and beverage industry. Most bottlers of soft drinks receive a franchise from a company and must use its ingredients to produce, bottle and distribute the soft drinks.

Business franchise opportunity ventures: These ventures typically require that a business owner purchases and distributes the products for one specific company. The company must provide customers or accounts to the business owner, and in return, the business owner pays a fee or other consideration as compensation. Examples include vending machine routes and distributorships.

Business format franchise opportunity: This is the most popular form of franchising. In this approach, a company provides a business owner with a proven method for operating a business using the name and trademark of the company. The company usually provides a significant amount of assistance to the business owner in starting and managing the company. The business owner pays a fee or royalty in return. Typically, a company also requires the owner to purchase supplies from the company.