Expanding your franchise business

It’s likely that you will have the desire to expand your business, after finding some success in the franchise world. Someone you shouldn’t forget when you start to set plan for your expansion is your franchisor. Make your franchisor aware of your plans and keep him up to date with the developments. Don’t shy away from asking for help or advice from your franchisor, because expanding your business is tricky and you could use all the help that you can get.

Before thinking about expanding your business, there are many warning signs you should watch out for. There are also misleading signs that may cause an inappropriate sense of confidence and may distract you from any problems that may be on the horizon .

The fact that you’ve managed to deal with certain problems that you’ve met on your own, doesn’t mean that you couldn’t always use a little help from someone more experienced, like the franchisor, for example. Giving yourself a false sense of security can end up making you both arrogant and blind, causing you to fall into many business traps that you were not expecting.

Franchisors normally have their eyes on their franchisees’ businesses and keep a look out for their own set of warning signs. They will usually map out the expected problems for you and tell you how to anticipate them. However, their help, while essential, is not solely sufficient. You have to learn both how to keep an eye out yourself as well as carefully interpret any signs to avoid unnecessary difficulties, you could clearly do without.

Let’s use an example :

Let’s say that your sales are up and new contracts are coming in. These signs are surely an indicator that your business is doing good enough to allow you to expand, right? Well, it depends on how you look at it. On the surface, you seem to be doing great and there couldn’t be a better time for expansion. However, if you look deeper, you’ll find several aspects to take issue with.

The sales are up, which is excellent, but how are your receivables? Do you actually have enough cash flow available? A new one year contract may sound great, but did you read it carefully? Do its clauses really imply that signing it is the right step for you at this point? It’s better to spend enough time asking yourself these questions than receiving a surprise letter from the bank telling you how it’s planning to repossess your business.

That’s why you should think long and hard, then set a plan carefully with the help of your franchisor, so that your dream of expanding your business doesn’t end up being a nightmare.


Expanding your franchise business - To learn more about this author, visit Sebastien Page's Website.

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