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Franchise Business Opportunities-What is the Role of a Franchise Broker?

Written by: Candice Clem

Article Overview: If you are interested in buying a franchise business, it may behoove you to do so through a franchise broker. You should also consider utilizing the advice of a professional franchise consultant.

Franchise Business Opportunities-What is the Role of a Franchise Broker?

If you are interested in buying a franchise business, it may behoove you to do so through a franchise broker. You should also consider utilizing the advice of a professional franchise consultant.

So, What Exactly is a Franchise Broker?
A franchise broker is simply someone who acts as a liaison between franchisors and franchisees. He gets the two parties together and has the sale of a franchise as his ultimate goal.

Empirebb.com compares a franchise, or business broker to a real estate broker because, essentially, a business broker does the same thing. The only difference is that instead of selling houses, the franchise broker is selling businesses. He assists the seller in preparing the business for sale and also prepares and delivers necessary documents. He will facilitate the closing of a deal and earn a commission on each sale.

The franchise broker’s knowledge of available business opportunities can greatly aid you in your own search.

Some Functions of Franchise Brokers
Empirebb.com provides this list of the various roles of a business broker:

* Listing businesses available for sale
* Assisting owners in the appraisal of their businesses
* Gathering and/or requesting all the relevant documents for the sale of the business
* Producing description sheets, which promote the businesses
* Promoting those franchises which he has listed
* Guiding/qualifying prospective franchisees
* Acting as an intermediary between franchisor and franchisee
* Setting up contacts for both parties with professionals such as lawyers and accountants who will be instrumental in completing the sale
* Assisting both franchisor and franchisee throughout the sales process

Well, What About a Franchise Consultant?
A franchise consultant provides professional advice to entrepreneurs interested in franchising. USfranchisenews.com suggests a list of things you, as a potential franchisee, should expect from a professional franchise consultant.

This list includes matching you with a franchise that will best suit your individual needs based on finances and personality. The consultant should find, within your selected industry, a franchise with a “creditable track record.” You should be advised by the consultant of what a particular franchise agreement will expect of you, so you can make comparisons through your own research. A consultant should assist the prospective franchisee in acquiring all pertinent information about a franchise and explain how you can research the franchise on your own. Finally, the consultant should aid in the review of legal documents and help you understand various financing options.

And What are the Advantages of this?
You might ask what the advantage could be in paying for this type of advice. After all, you are capable of doing research on your own. Well, there are many benefits associated with the acquisition of professional knowledge.

Starting a franchise—or any business—is a monumental decision that requires many cogs to work together in one machine, and, frankly, seeking the advice of an expert in the field just makes good sense.

The use of a franchise consultant will also exponentially increase your chances of locating that one business opportunity that is just perfect for you. A professional consultant will be well-acquainted with the plethora of opportunities available. And, with business opportunities ranging from investment-only to part-time ventures to even multiple unit chains in industries ranging from fast-food to retail sales to tax preparation, the expertise of a franchise consultant could greatly reduce the time you must personally spend researching to find the best fit. It just means you’ll be opening the doors of your own business that much quicker.

All this being said, there are a few factors to consider when choosing a consultant or broker. First, a potential franchisee should bear in mind that other than factual information such as financial data or litigation history, all the advice provided by a professional will be subjective. This means that you should consider the philosophies of a franchise consultant and whether they coincide with your own.

For example, some consultants may believe that the product itself is the key to success, so a franchise that offers a product or service in high demand will be an automatic success; however, a different franchise consultant might truly feel that brand awareness is the best indicator of future success and so advise you to seek out a well-known franchise.

Therefore, as a prospective franchisee, you should evaluate your own philosophies about the keys to success in business, so you can make an advantageous selection when it comes time to choose a franchise broker or consultant.

This way, you assure yourself that your broker or consultant will be presenting you with business opportunities with a strong potential to be a good match for you.

And remember that success in franchising is measured by reaching your personal goals within your personal timeframe. It isn’t necessarily based exclusively on profits.

A good franchise broker or consultant will weigh all the elements of your personality, needs and unique desires in order to locate a business opportunity that will be rewarding to you in each of these areas and exhibit the best possible potential for allowing you to achieve your business goals.

Related Articles
  Why Franchisees Should Consider Using a Franchise Broker
  FRANCHISE BROKERS vs FRANCHISING CONSULTANTS
  About 60% of all franchise opportunities have less than 50 units.
  Why Use a Franchise Consultant?
  The best franchise systems all have effective leadership.

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Re: Enticing Franchises - Top 9 List - All Franchise listed above are in millions of dollars. Do you have the list of Franchise in thousands
Re: Info for would be franchisers... - [quote="Sebastien":1d29sdv1]Like Franchise Times, Franchise Update is a very practical magazine. There is no blah blah, just straight facts that anyone in the franchise community can relate to. I just want to mention that all these magazines are NOT franchisee oriented. I mean these magazines are for franchise professionals. If you're looking to buy a franchise, you won't find much information in there. To answer your question, getting published in Franchise Times was fairly easy. I don't want to brag too much but I think I am known in the franchise industry. I was the marketing guy at Franchise.com for a few years before joining my new company, the World Franchising Network. So people know me and I have a very good relationship with Nancy Weingartner, the Managing Editor at Franchise Times. I was talking with her at the last Franchise Expo South in Miami and she mentioned she'd like me to be profiled. I was like "ok, sure!". I like this franchise executive profile thing in Franchise Times as it is rarely BS. People are usually really natural in there.[/quote:1d29sdv1] Thanks for the follow up Sebastien! And I can't say that I'm surprised that networking with the right people and managing your relationships with them properly are the keys to being published. I guess the old adage holds true of "it's not who you know, but who knows you" that's important.
how much for a franchise fee? - Dear Colleague There is no easy answer to this question. Things to consider: [list=] The sizeof the Franchise Clent base Expected Turnover Intellectual Property costs (recoup) Number of Franchises Number of employees Original Set up costs Franchise admin costs An example: A franchise that I was involved in setting was to a simple "lawn mowing/home repair" franchise. The Franchise included national/local advertising - preparation of client lists - general admin - central accounting etc The Franchise involved 300-500 clients - and an annual turnover of about $300,000 . The annual franchise fee was $30,000. Hope that this gives you some idea Take care Ian[/list]
Re: Franchise Surveys - Another good tool to researching a franchise is to speak with their existing franchisees. This contact information is included in most Franchise Disclosure Documents. In order to get a Franchise Disclosure Document or FDD as it is often referred to, you will have to complete a basic franchise application. The franchisor will then usually provide you with the FDD at that time. Included in that book of information is a list of the existing franchisees, the contract, the investment information etc... This information is required by Federal Law to be disclosed to your prior to making a purchase. So be sure to do your research and start with the Franchise Documents to get the initial information.
Re: Info for would be franchisers... - [quote="Sebastien":2gam0klq][quote="BuzzAroundBooks":2gam0klq]Like Franchise Times, Franchise Update is a very practical magazine. There is no blah blah, just straight facts that anyone in the franchise community can relate to.[/quote:2gam0klq][/quote:2gam0klq] That is really what I look for in any industry publication. We lead busy lives and when people fill their magazines with fluff, not only does it benefit no one, but it makes us truly appreciate those that don't. Thanks!


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