Buying into a franchise and launching your own business is a huge step, and there’s a vast amount of preparation to be done. Yet alongside reading through manuals and documents and ensuring you thoroughly understand the processes and procedures to undergo, what else can you do to best be sure that this is the franchise opportunity for you? Let us help guide you along the way… with some advice that perhaps you may not have read before.
Analyse Yourself
Anyone successful in business should know themselves pretty well and have at least a good understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. However, completing a full personality test can better help you appreciate not just your abilities but also your behavioural tendencies. Those who identify as a more creative personality may find that they don’t quite fit the structure of franchise working, but those who work better within process and protocol with rules may fit better.
There are a variety of personality tests available online as well as through business hubs and psychologists.
Assess Your Strengths
Once you’ve undergone personality testing, it’s important to work out exactly where your strengths lie across the nitty gritty and perhaps technical tasks that you’ll have to do throughout the franchise launch and maintenance.
Are you likely to have to cold call? If so, how are you at doing it? Are you good at sales? Are you able to remain politically agile and adjust your way of speaking and working to different levels of people? If it is likely that something is to come up that you’re not brilliant at, you can look at either training to improve your performance at it or to hire someone to do it for you – but being prepared for such eventualities is key.
Study Franchises
No two franchise businesses are the same. Understanding how a variety of franchises work can help you better nurture your own when you set about launching it. While there are several common characteristics amongst franchises, there can too be many differences.
Different countries have different franchising requirements and so you may find that with an international brand, restrictions and operating conditions vary. It is worth investigating into these differences to help you understand how your business may work alongside others under the parent company.
Balance The Books
There are minimum financial requirements in place to buy into a franchise: usually the initial investment fee and the cost of equipment. However, this is rarely the only investment required and so franchisees must ensure that they have significantly more available cash flow in order to get things up and running.
Launching a franchise requires marketing investment, hiring costs and the ability to finance any unexpected purchases or fees that may be required. A franchise will run for a prolonged period of time on either break-even or net losses and so the franchisee must be prepared to work on their own capital for at least a few years.
Consider The Need For Consultants
Franchise Consultants are now readily available and although often provided by the parent company that a franchisee is buying into, often work freelance too.
Most Franchise Consultants are paid salespeople and so will operate to push you through the process and launch a business as soon as possible in order to earn their fee. Whether or not you really need a Franchise Consultant should be considered before you agree to hire one – as although their guidance may be helpful, you may well be able to access the same information directly from those working at the parent company without having to pay such excessive costs.
Do your research on the franchise business model
You wouldn’t visit a hotel without checking it on TripAdvisor, hire a contractor without looking at Check-A-Trade or attend a job interview without reading up on Glassdoor, so why enter a franchise agreement without doing your research?
There are online resources available for ratings, reviews and experiences too. Several industry websites operate to provide data and unbiased information on franchises and these can prove hugely helpful for those looking to embark on their own franchise journey.
Don’t Just Read… Talk to existing franchisees!
Speaking to franchisees both past and present can give you a great idea of the true picture of such business management.
Most franchises will be more than happy to provide contacts and references for current franchisees who are operating successful businesses under their parent company, but don’t be afraid to dig a little deeper and converse with those who no longer operate franchises or who are finding things more challenging. Running no business is seamless or without struggle and so understanding this in real terms can help you understand better exactly how things may work; and prepare you for it.
Some franchise businesses will encourage people to due their own research and soul searching prior to handing over contact details of existing franchisees. Don't be put off by this, they are protecting and valuing the time of their existing franchisees and this should be seen as a positive!
Hire Help Where You Need It
There’s a lot to be tackled in the process of buying into a franchise and unless you’re an expert in all areas of business, chances are you may need a helping hand.
Accountants can be hired to analyse and work through the financial documents needed, solicitors can navigate through the legal requirements and stipulations, and insurance agents can ensure you’re thoroughly covered for business protection purposes. There is no weakness in hiring help where it is needed – and indeed it can prove a very wise business decision in the long term.
Financials are often the make or break of a new franchise, so having an accountant look over your accounts is imperative to ensuring you're in the strongest possible position to attack this challenge.
Weigh Up The Pros And Cons
It’s probably been a while since you’ve written a good old fashioned pros and cons list, but why not now? Weighing up the good and the bad of becoming a franchisee and taking on this new business venture can help give some easy visibility to what may be involved.
List out the benefits and opportunities of working with a proven brand on one side and the costs, risks and resources required on the other. While no means an exhaustive list, this will help you keep at the forefront of your mind what can be achieved as well as what is at stake.
Need Advice?
Our knowledgeable and helpful team are on hand to offer insight and advice, so get in touch today to start your franchise business journey!