If you've ever worked in a retail environment, you know what an unending hassle selling physical merchandise can be, and there are plenty of reasons why it can be such a pain. First, you have to establish what kind of product sells best to the shoppers in your area, and in what quantities. Second, you must have the space to house everything you are going to sell, making a work from home business virtually impossible. Third, you have to continuously refill and adapt the stock as you find out what sells and what doesn't. And fourth, you and all of your employees have to always be up to date on new merchandise that comes in, because someone will inevitably ask about every item you carry. Of course, all of this is well and good when your very business depends on selling products to consumers, but that doesn't mean that merchandise-based franchises are for everyone. Some of us would much rather sell a service, focusing only on a client and a task instead of wandering around in circles keeping track of ever-changing, time-consuming merchandise. For all of you, here are some great service franchise opportunities that might be right up your alley.

Maintenance Franchises

If you like to work with your hands, doing something tangible and practical for your wage, look no further. There are a wide array of businesses built on the hard work required to maintain everything from people's computers to their yards. The PC Support Group, for example, does the former, helping clients in their homes and offices with problems ranging from faulty software to full system failure. At the other end of the spectrum, GreenThumb Limited and LAWNKEEPER are two of the UK's most trusted lawn maintenance companies, providing excellent lawn-care service at competitive prices.

If neither of those businesses suit your fancy, two great outliers in the maintenance franchise industry are Furniture Clinic and Metro Rod. If you like to use your hands for detail-oriented handy-work but aren't a big fan of the outdoors, Furniture Clinic is the merchandise-less franchise for you. Stay nice and warm in the comfort of other people's homes as you work your handy magic to repair their scratched, torn and weathered leather. If getting down and dirty is your thing, Metro Rod delivers 24-hour drain-clearing services to its customers, which can be a life saver for your desperate clients.

Photography Franchises

It's true, you could say that when you work as a photographer, you sell the merchandise of photographs, but a great photographer sells much more than a piece of glossy paper and with a photography franchise you can acquire the skills to market yourself in this fun and ever popular field. Here are some excellent home based business opportunities available to anyone with an eye for lighting and framing. Little Angels affords just such an opportunity to anyone interested in snapping photos of angelic preschoolers or any other kind that happen to be around when you arrive at a site. Exclusively for female entrepreneurs, the franchise is founded on providing photography services to preschools and nurseries. Red Hot Camera is another good name for the photographer looking to escape the framing shop. Get in your Red Hot van and hit the field to take landscape photos of your client's real estate locations with one-of-a-kind, patented equipment designed for just such a task.

Business Services

No kids, no clogged drains, no lawns, no specialized equipment. Just you, your briefcase, and maybe a laptop that is what these business-to-business franchises require. All dealing primarily in thoughts and ideas, MatchPoint, Sandler Training, and Find It In take on entirely different aspects of business, but all deal in just that: business.

For those who can't decide on a franchise for themselves but have researched them all and have a natural proclivity toward helping others, MatchPoint is the franchise for you. The basic business premise is this: people need help finding the franchise business for them, and you, knowing all there is to know about franchises, help them accomplish that. Similarly, Sandler Training is a consultation franchise, though its goal is to teach business owners and their employees how to best sell their product. There is no greater opportunity for the natural salesman who has grown tired of dealing with all the products himself. And finally, Find It In takes on the hard task of advertising for other local small businesses by creating a one-stop website where consumers can find listings for all the businesses they need every day.

The list of franchises without any kind of merchandise could go on and on, covering everything from home inspection companies to cleaning franchises. Browse through a more complete list of home based, merchandise-free businesses and see if you, too, bid farewell to the turmoil that is retail stocking and merchandise.