Franchising your Business Successfully (Ezine)

The first step in franchising your business opportunity is to start by analyzing your business model. Is it profitable after allowing for your franchise fees? If it is profitable and has well defined objectives to exploit the opportunities in the market place then you are ready to move to step two.

Can the business model be easily taught? There is no point in having a profitable business opportunity if it can not be duplicated by your franchisees. A training package must be devised that assumes that the franchisee has no prior business experience.

Step three is to create a detailed and well laid out operators manual. This should be divided into two parts: one section for the franchisee and one section for the employees of the franchisee.

Step four is to decide on the initial franchise fee and the ongoing royalty payments. In the initial stages of launching the business franchise, the franchise fee will have to be kept at a very low level to entice the first batch of franchisees. Once you have some franchisees running successfully then you will be able to increase the initial payment.

Step five is to create an ongoing support system for your franchisees. Some will require more support than others. A few will need more training. You will need to decide at this point who is going to actually carry out the training. Many franchisors outsource the training aspect to a qualified training company. This means that they can focus on the critical aspect of running and managing the business.

Step six is to devise your franchise agreement with the help of a decent franchise lawyer. There is no point in cutting costs as this will end up being the cornerstone of your business opportunity.

Step seven is to create all the marketing material including brochures and video presentations to market your franchises. You will also need to decide where you are going to market your business opportunity. There are now a multitude of mediums where you can promote your franchise ranging from franchise exhibitions, franchise magazines and franchise websites. Many companies even advertise their franchise offering in the national press.

Bear in mind that the above steps will be under constant improvement as the franchise network grows. All the marketing material, ongoing support and training will have to be developed as weaknesses are discovered.

Some of the franchisees will have to be treated like children as they will never have managed a business before. Not only will you have to teach them how to mange your franchise but in some cases you will have to also train them into how to use a computer and basic accountancy skills.

Finally, a system will have to be created to deal with franchisees that are deemed unsuitable after they started managing their business. No matter how comprehensive the recruiting programme is, it will be very difficult to weed out all the unsuitable candidates until they actually start running their business.

Finding the right franchisees, training them properly in all your systems and providing full ongoing support should reduce the numbers who end up failing as business owners.

Naz Daud is the founder of CityLocal Business Franchise Opportunity
Business Franchises and UK Business Directory
Business Franchise Opportunity
Ireland Business Directory & Franchise Opportunity


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