The Side Hustle Show · Nick Loper of Side Hustle Nation | YAP Media

718: Does it Make Sense to Buy a Franchise as a Side Hustle?

January 15, 2026·46 min·4 clips

Once you get up to about 50 seniors, you are bringing in a million dollars top end and dropping about 200K to the bottom line.

Franchises can feel less intimidating than starting from scratch. The basic pitch is clear: buy into somebody else's brand and operating system, then follow the playbook instead of making up every step. The episode says the right franchise could replace income in two to three years on a part-time basis, but Greg Moore keeps a caution sign up. Each opportunity has its own workload, and that matters right away. Nick frames the question around a listener with a day job and maybe 10, 15, or 20 hours a week to give it. That turns the whole conversation into a practical test: can this really run semi-passively, or does the buyer need to look much harder before believing that claim? Local presence gets a fair hearing. Greg points out the advantage of having people nearby who know the area and are known there. Nick brings in his own comparison from painting houses in college. There was no upfront franchise fee, but the company took a bigger cut from every job, so the deal was closer to pay-for-performance. In return, Nick got an estimating system and training. He still had to book jobs, find painters, and deal with the mess when things went sideways. The money talk stays concrete. A typical franchise fee is around $50,000, which leads Nick to the obvious next question: do buyers show up with cash, or do they finance it? Greg says many prefer financing, with SBA loans popular, though the paperwork and timing are part of the package. This is not passive income by default. The appeal is the system, but the image of 19-year-olds with paint sprayers makes the downside easy to feel. The system helped. It did not remove the stress. Nick remembers that summer as formative, extremely hard, and rewarding because real problems still had to be solved. Greg explains the franchise case, while Nick keeps bringing it back to fees, royalties, workload, and the listener's actual calendar.

As heard by us

A grounded franchise primer for side hustlers weighing proven systems against diligence, capital, and hands-on operating risk.

Franchising comes across as a serious side hustle option, but not a low-effort one. Greg Moore makes the case for buying into an existing brand and operating system instead of building from scratch, with the potential, if the fit is right, to replace income within two to three…

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Why you'd press play

A reality check on buying a franchise without quitting your day job.

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