Franchise Advice

Because starting a franchise can be like entering into uncharted waters, it is an endeavor that one shouldn’t go into without preparation. The potential franchisor should seek franchise advice before committing his or her time, effort and money to the endeavor. Afterwards, if he or she decides to go ahead with the process and become a bona fide franchisor, it will be important to continue seeking franchise advice. In business, as in all other important endeavors, it is better to be excessively cautious than it is to walk into complex financial situations unprepared.

Franchise advice can take numerous forms. It could be informal advice gathered from talking to franchisors of businesses similar to your own. It could also be gathered from conversations with franchisees. Talking to both franchisors and franchisees about their franchising experiences can help give you a three-dimensional picture of the franchising process and of its pros and cons. The conversations can help you to anticipate the types of problems and misunderstandings that could easily bog you down once you become a franchisor. They can also give you insight into what is realistic, given the current state of the market. It is always better to know what a particular endeavor entails on the ‘grassroots level’ than it is to imagine what it is about in abstract terms. This kind of information can help a potential franchisor figure out how to sweeten the deal so that quality franchisees feel motivated to buy franchise rights from him or her.

 

Getting Franchise Advice from Experts

 

Franchise advice can also come from professionals who specialize in franchising. They may be lawyers, accountants, franchising consultants or others. Because they have prior experience facilitating franchising, they make good sources of knowledge about the process. Of course this knowledge comes at a price, so before signing on a specialist to advice him or her, a franchisor should do some research to determine how good the specialist is. It is important to request list of references and to ask questions about the specialist’s history working with franchisors.

Franchising specialists will likely give a franchisor a checklist of steps to follow in determining whether his or her business is suitable for franchising. Subsequently, they will give the franchisor advice on getting the franchising process started. The franchisor will comply with these different stages of advice by assessing his or her business for reliability, financial security, flexibility, return on investment, and other factors. Additionally, the franchisor will look into the heaps of paperwork involved in the process of franchising and the structural changes that lie ahead.