Being frank about franchising
We’d like to answer a question recently asked of us by one of our community members.
How do I identify responsive and fair franchises? -Bill
If you’re determined to open a franchise, we recommend that you do two very important things:
Go into other locations of the franchise and look around. See how customers are responding. See how the management operates. Ask them if they like the business-entrepreneurs are often friendly to fellow entrepreneurs as long as you don’t pose a threat. This learning will be invaluable in getting an in-the-trenches perspective (instead of marketing language from ambitious franchisors).
Ask the franchisor about their long term plans for the brand, your region, growth opportunities, and acquire their FOC, a document that articulates all the stipulations of becoming a franchisee.
BONUS ANSWER! If you’re looking for significant growth in revenues, you’ll have to identify multiple locations. Perhaps one of the most interesting strategies we’ve learned-and we discuss this in our book, due out in a couple of weeks-and that is to not create a new location, but to acquire a tired, EXISTING location and infuse it with your energy, creativity and enthusiasm.
Anyone else have some tips on how to be smart about sizing up franchisee opportunities?
March 3rd, 2006 at 1:40 pm
[p]i’m a new part of this ‘community’ and am grateful to have this forum!
friends and i are still in early stages of opening a retail business/franchise that currently has no stores in this state or a neighboring state. we are located in a very small town, adjacent to a large city. we want to draw from the 5-7 counties around us, but need to be VERY conservative with our funds. what is the best way (in addition to word-of-mouth) to get the word out that we’re open?
thanks for any help!