How do I become a successful franchise?

SGTGROUT,

My family made part of their money by becoming a successful franchisor in the UK. By no means an expert myself, I at least know my way around the subject, but it seems to me that your business may not yet be ready to expand into the franchise sphere.

At the very core of the franchise model, the element holding it together, you have the USP, the unique selling proposition, which is what makes it attractive to the franchisee. And, in franchising, the USP is more advanced and multifaceted than usual: it encompasses the unique element (or elements) of your business, as well as everything that it (uniquely) brings to the table, such as brand recognition, DFY setup, and everything else (in sum) that is both unique and aimed at making the business desirable to the franchisee.

Your typical franchisee, you see, is - when you get right down to it - not a natural entrepreneur like yourself. They may wish to be. They may see themself as such. They are not. I say that partly from experience (of knowing franchisees) and partly from logic; since, if they were naturals, the vast majority would be the ones creating an original business (though it's not always the case, since for many entrepreneurs a franchise is just good business sense, and often cuts down the waiting time between launch and break-even).

What I'd say, at this stage, is concentrate on developing the uniqueness and continued success of your business. What you then do is hire a decent local lawyer in this arena, and he'll easily walk you through setting it all up. All the best!

- Tom

RE: "I know that I must first have a proven track record, but what are some of the future aspects that I would be facing?"

hey good question. Yes to the proven track record, but you still can try to get some people interested NOW. You would need to research all these websites where the 2 parties of buyers and sellers meet.

These sites are not exactly cheap to list a franchise. And they usually want 3 months minimum commitment. But its very targeted advertising, and prospects will contact you. Now depends on you if you can sell your concept or not.

You also can build your list of prospects now already, and send them a weekly email. I used Opt-Intelligence : Opt-Intelligence: Leading a New Generation of Marketing
for that purpose.So you put a franchise ad on their sites, or partner sites like for example NY main newspapers and only people interested in Your franchise sign up. But its a budget question, how much you want to put in, as these guys are fast and send you many prospects every day. If you have the budget you build a very targeted list very quick.

I have extensive Franchise experience, and an associate who is an expert, if and when you get to the point you need one. The franchise start-up is very EXPENSIVE and you need deep pockets or lots of leverage.

BUT, you can test your idea in several different ways:

A LICENSED program. Licensing your idea requires less red tape and paperwork, it is simpler to set up and gives you almost the same results.

See, a Franchise buyer is actually seeking a surrogate boss. The value of a franchise is found in their TESTED AND PROVEN marketing strategies.

OR, you could offer a DISTRIBUTORSHIP, these can look like either of the above but usually are territorial, so you can test your idea in Buffalo, Miami, Dallas, wherever you want and those distributors can't sell outside their territories. Also, legally easier to set up and still maintain control.

Then there is the BIZ-OP or business opportunity, now these have levels of price restrictions, the higher the price, the more rules, regs and scrutiny you attract.

The fly low plan would be a distributor. If it is a service, your offer would be for the marketing know how, and you protect yourself with trademark, patent, copyrights, registration or exclusive supply of materials.

So, you have some lower cost testing options before you go the Franchise route, but if you get to that point, consult with an expert who does NOT GET PAID FROM a franchisor. You want someone with no profit from his/her recommendation, ok?

GordonJ

Franchising is all about following a proven system in order to replicate the success of the original business. That's why "Steady Eddy" types who are willing to trust the system make better (and happier) owners than "disrupter" types with independent streaks.

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