How to spot a solid franchise opportunity
How to spot a solid franchise opportunity
What should you look for when looking for a franchise to buy?
There are a lot of franchises out there, and a would-be franchise owner needs to be able to differentiate between a good opportunity and a potential disaster. Franchise owners want you to buy their product (the franchise) because that is how they make money. But you need to be able to tell the difference between the shiny sales pitches and the real diamonds underneath all the hype. Here are some simple things you can do to spot a great franchising opportunity:
1. Do your homework. The simplest, most effective way to ensure you know how you can find a good franchise is first learn everything you can about business, franchising and all that goes with it. If you can’t tell the difference between a balance sheet and a sales invoice, you need to take some time to learn some more. Nothing is more reassuring than being able to rely upon your own knowledge instead of taking someone’s word for it.
2. Find out about the company. In addition to increasing your knowledge about business basics, you’ll want to research the company as well. How long have they been in business? What do their numbers look like? Do they belong to a professional organization like the International Franchise Association? If not, why not? There are some scam franchises out there, so you’ll need to ensure the company is on the up and up before you commit. You may need to hire a reliable accountant or business analyst to evaluate some of the details for you, as they know what to look for when searching for strong business fundamentals.
3. Where do they stand? If you are interested in a franchise, you’ll want to learn as much about them as you can. Though you don’t need to know everything, the most important thing you can look for is their performance as compared to others in the industry. If a restaurant is seeing sales increases of 15% per year, that probably sounds pretty good. But what if everyone else in the industry is experiencing 25% growth? Not so good now, is it? Finding which business is on top, and why, is key to finding a good franchising opportunity.
4. How do they spend their time? A great way to determine whether or not a franchise will be successful is to look at how the franchiser (the business that sells you the franchise) spends their time. Are they focused on growing the franchise base, or are they focusing on the franchises they already sold? Be careful here. Though the latter may seem to be the better indicator of success, it isn’t. A company that is focused on growing their franchise, increasing name recognition and getting a broader customer base is much better than a franchise that spends all their time helping their franchisee to get going. The first is building a long-term business, while the second doesn’t have a strong growth plan.
How to spot a solid franchise opportunity - To learn more about this author, visit Ian Macleod's Website.
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HOW TO SPOT A FRANCHISING OPPORTUNITY
What should you look for when looking for a franchise to buy?
There are a lot of franchises out there, and a would-be franchise owner needs to be able to differentiate between a good opportunity and a potential disaster. Franchise owners want you to buy their product (the franchise) because that is how they make money. But you need to be able to tell the difference between the shiny sales pitches and the real diamonds underneath all the hype. Here are some simple things you can do to spot a great franchising opportunity:
1. Do your homework. The simplest, most effective way to ensure you know how you can find a good franchise is first learn everything you can about business, franchising and all that goes with it. If you can’t tell the difference between a balance sheet and a sales invoice, you need to take some time to learn some more. Nothing is more reassuring than being able to rely upon your own knowledge instead of taking someone’s word for it.
2. Find out about the company. In addition to increasing your knowledge about business basics, you’ll want to research the company as well. How long have they been in business? What do their numbers look like? Do they belong to a professional organization like the International Franchise Association? If not, why not? There are some scam franchises out there, so you’ll need to ensure the company is on the up and up before you commit. You may need to hire a reliable accountant or business analyst to evaluate some of the details for you, as they know what to look for when searching for strong business fundamentals.
3. Where do they stand? If you are interested in a franchise, you’ll want to learn as much about them as you can. Though you don’t need to know everything, the most important thing you can look for is their performance as compared to others in the industry. If a restaurant is seeing sales increases of 15% per year, that probably sounds pretty good. But what if everyone else in the industry is experiencing 25% growth? Not so good now, is it? Finding which business is on top, and why, is key to finding a good franchising opportunity.
4. How do they spend their time? A great way to determine whether or not a franchise will be successful is to look at how the franchiser (the business that sells you the franchise) spends their time. Are they focused on growing the franchise base, or are they focusing on the franchises they already sold? Be careful here. Though the latter may seem to be the better indicator of success, it isn’t. A company that is focused on growing their franchise, increasing name recognition and getting a broader customer base is much better than a franchise that spends all their time helping their franchisee to get going. The first is building a long-term business, while the second doesn’t have a strong growth plan.
How to spot a solid franchise opportunity - To learn more about this author, visit Ian Macleod's Website.
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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