Franchise Opportunity - Questions To Ask The Franchisor - #33

Posted in New Franchises by admin on May 21st, 2008
Tip! Get your salespeople and brokers on-board. Experienced, reputable salespeople and brokers can be useful in generating interest and following up, but you must be careful that the prospects they bring you - and the prospects you sign - match your profile, are adequately capitalized, have a clear understanding of the franchisor/franchisee relationship and have realistic expectations.

Finding The Right Franchise

Whether it’s hamburgers, pizza, telecom, coffee, Internet, muffler parts, or seniors’ services, there are Franchise opportunities available to evaluate. There are great Franchise systems, good Franchise systems, and bad Franchise systems. The challenge is to ask the right questions to find the right system that will fit your goals and dreams. The key is to ask the questions - and listen closely to the responses. Only then can you determine if the Franchise opportunity is the right fit for you. So whether it’s food services like burgers or coffee, professional services like telecom or IT, or manual services like cleaning or oil changes, ask the questions and record the answers.

Tip! ) Franchise Organizations and Companies like McDonalds own vast amounts of real estate; The Catholic Church owns vast amounts of real estate.

How Big Is The Market?

The Franchisor should have a good handle on the available market for the product or service that you will be offering as a Franchisee. Presumably the Franchisor has done extensive research on the current market size, as well as the potential market size for the future.

The Franchisor should be willing to share that information with you so you can assess the data to make sure that the opportunity is going to be of sufficient size to satisfy your own goals. You may have to sign a non-disclosure agreement first, but the information is important to you, so it must be assessed. The whole idea of Franchising is to ensure that the goals and dreams of the Franchisee, and those of the Franchisor, are unified. If the market availability will allow for strategies to be implemented by you, which are consistent with your goals, and those penetration goals are congruent with the Franchisor’s goals, then all is good.

Tip! ) Renewal denied due to Balance Sheet of franchisor, impounding fees required, kiss of death for a franchisor in a registration state, have deals pending, location open, franchisee abandonment, juggle to see that location running.

If it’s a long-standing and stable market, then there should be plenty of statistics to back up that conclusion. If it’s a new and burgeoning market, there should be analysis that you can assess to give you a comfort level that you, together with Franchisor, can go get a significant share. If it’s a fad market, or limited life market, then the strategies should reflect that, as should the agreements.

The caution is that if the Franchisor is wishy-washy about the market, or is unwilling to discuss the issue in depth with you, that should be a significant warning sign.

Tip! ) Franchise Organizations and Companies use a common Confidential Operations Manual; The Catholic Church uses a similar bible.

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