Tweet

Forming a Franchise Advisory Council

Written by: John Power

Article Overview: An advisory council, comprised of franchisees, can help the franchisor understand the franchisees' needs, while providing accurate feedback on programs, suppliers, advertising, and other elements of the franchise program. A franchisee advisory council can also be a way to show appreciation to franchisees who are supportive and successful.

Forming a Franchise Advisory Council

Once you have sold a few franchises, say five or more, it can be beneficial to form a Franchisee Advisory Council. You might call it an Advisory Council, a Key Franchisee Group, Franchise Leadership Council, or something similar.

You can form it just by asking some of your most successful (and most loyal) franchisees to be part of it. The number would vary depending on the total number of franchises you have sold, but would probably not be less than three or more than twelve.

The purpose of the Franchisee Advisory Council is to:
• Obtain “feet on the street” feedback from some of your best franchisees.
• Provide a forum where you can discuss new ideas and programs.
• Evaluate the success of things you have implemented in the past.
• Create an organized group of franchisees who support the franchisor.

You should form the group by invitation, rather than by election. You may want to ask them to accept assignments for special research projects and test marketing programs.

They should not have any legal authority in the organization, and the decisions and recommendations that they make would not be binding on you.

You will not be able to do everything that they suggest. Nevertheless, they will probably present some good ideas and you will benefit from receiving their feedback. If you never act on their suggestions they may feel that there is no benefit to being part of the council, but if you are able to implement some of the ideas they present they will feel that their input is useful to you.

They will need to receive some recognition, perhaps listing their names on periodic company communications, and recognizing them at company meetings.

You should be careful that all feedback from other franchisees is not suddenly funneled through the Advisory Council. They should not organizationally “represent” or “speak for” the other franchisees. You do not want to lose contact with individual franchisees.

You will want to hold periodic meetings with the Council, perhaps quarterly. We suggest that you conduct the meetings by agenda and allow them to suggest topics for discussion in advance.

If you are in the same geographic area you may want to take them to dinner a couple of times a year and hold a discussion meeting afterward. If members of the Advisory Council are at some distance from each other, you could hold a special annual meeting in conjunction with your annual convention.

A good franchisee council can help the franchisor strengthen the franchise program for the benefit of all.

More information can be found at:  www.biltmorefranchise.com

Related Articles
  Franchise Advisory Council
  How Franchisees Can Promote Positive Franchise Relations
  The Advantages of Owning a Franchise
  The Laws of Franchising Remain Unchanged
  A good franchisor/franchisee relationship

Article Tags: advisory council, br, company communications, company meetings, decisions, franchise, franchisee, franchisees, franchises, franchisor, invitation, leadership council, legal authority, marketing programs, organized group, research projects, test marketing



Related Forum Posts
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!


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Soda Vending Machine = Energy Hog

Are You Fulfilled

Building a Business From 30,000 Feet

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.