Tweet

The Top 3 Franchise Recruitment Mistakes and How to Avoid Making Them

Guest post by: Jocelyn Chavez

Article Overview: In the current financial climate, many economic forces may be beyond your control. However, there are steps you can take to ensure your organization remains competitive and position your brand for further growth. Identifying your organization's strengths and weaknesses, as well as any opportunities and obstacles, can provide you with a renewed sense of control; bring you one step closer to reaching your expansion goals and help your organization emerge stronger. As an Attorney at Law and Founder of Franchise & Business Law Group, David L. Cahn, has seen first-hand how some commonly made mistakes can hinder a franchise organization’s development, while other strategies can fuel growth. Cahn shares his insights into some of the most common mistakes that franchisors make and offers strategies for overcoming the most prevalent pitfalls.

The Top 3 Franchise Recruitment Mistakes and How to Avoid Making Them

In the current financial climate, many economic forces may be beyond your control. However, there are steps you can take to ensure your organization remains competitive and position your brand for further growth. Examining your business practices and identifying your organization's strengths and weaknesses, as well as any opportunities and obstacles, can provide you with a renewed sense of control; bring you one step closer to reaching your franchise expansion goals and help your organization emerge stronger.

As an Attorney at Law and Founder of Franchise & Business Law Group, a Maryland/Washington, DC-area firm that represents and counsels franchisors, franchisees and other entrepreneurs in various stages of their quest to create and grow their business, David L. Cahn, has seen first-hand how some commonly made mistakes can hinder a franchise organization's development, while other strategies can fuel growth.

Below, Cahn shares his insights into some of the most common mistakes that franchisors make and offers strategies for overcoming the most prevalent pitfalls.

Is Your Organization Making one of these 3 Common Mistakes?

1. Recruiting franchisees that don't fit the ideal franchisee profile- A well-developed ideal franchisee profile that outlines the essential skills, qualities and traits that prospective franchisees must possess is vital to an organization's franchisee recruitment strategy. In addition to serving as the basis upon which all future marketing and recruitment efforts are based, the ideal franchisee profile also helps franchisors spot prospects that are the best fit for the organization. However, as Cahn observes, "Many franchisors are not selective enough in terms of the franchisees they recruit. Franchisors should have a clear franchisee profile...not having clear criteria and not sticking with it is a big problem I see." "During the sales process franchisors should be finding out about the prospective franchisee's personal and financial background to determine whether they are likely to be an effective operator of one of the franchises. In some cases there is too much of a 'hard sell' and franchisors don't spend enough time finding out if the candidate would be a qualified franchisee. Franchisors should explain the advantages that the opportunity offers, but also ask the candidate questions about him- or herself to make sure they'd be an asset to the organization. Franchise organizations often are better off growing slower but with better, more qualified candidates."
2. Neglecting existing franchisees- "Service to existing franchisees is especially important in the early stages of growth- one to 25 units," Cahn says. "You need successful and happy franchisees. As the franchisor you should be providing services to franchisees to help them be successful. Not everyone is going to be equally successful, but you don't want your franchisees failing because you haven't been contacting them. In addition, quality prospects will be contacting existing franchisees as part of their due diligence. You don't want existing franchisees telling prospects that they never see the franchisor."
3. Omitting an earnings claim/Item 19- "Don't be afraid to have an earnings claim. When advising prospective franchisees, we are suspicious of franchisors that refuse to provide one. And prospects want to know how much money they can make. Not having it gets in the way," Cahn advises. "Recruiting franchisees without providing that information is notoriously difficult. You can use historical data. The item 19 shouldn't say things that are inconsistent with the truth. The information should be self-evident; that way the recruitment person can point to that data and it is representative and answers the obvious question."

If your organization is grappling with any of these commonly-faced issues, identifying the obstacles is a worthwhile pursuit and the first step in overcoming barriers to your success. And triumphing over challenges, particularly in the current economic climate, can provide you with a significant competitive edge.

Related Articles
  Buying a franchise during recession
  Franchise your business
  Buying a franchise? Avoid these costly mistakes
  What are the Benefits of a Coffee Franchise?
  Numbers Show Employment Franchises Won't Slow Down
  Is Your Franchise Recruitment and Franchise Marketing Strategy Giving You The Right Franchisees??
  Key Factors to Franchise Success
  Does Your Recruitment Process Hire The Best Salespeople?
  Considering a Management Franchise
  Employment Franchises Show Continued Growth
  Employers: What is a professional recruitment service?
  Don’t Make Mistakes When Searching For Franchise Finance Lenders When You Buy A Franchise In Canada
  Franchising Mistakes and how to avoid them
  Small Business Tips to Hire Great Employees – Listen To Your Gut
  How to Avoid a Franchise Scam
  Recruiting effectively: an employer guide to making the recruitment process lean.
  How Recruitment Process Outsourcing Can Help Your Business Stay Focused
  If you thought recruiting staff was easy, try recruiting franchisees!
  Employment agency franchises
  Lesson #1: “If you get knocked down, get back up again”

Article Tags: expansion goals, financial climate, franchise business, franchise development, franchise expansion, franchise organizations, franchise recruitment, franchisees



Related Forum Posts
Re: 365 Foolish Mistakes Smart Managers Make - [quote="litekepr":2v18lglp]This morning's Google Alert held a pleasant surprise. WORTH MENTIONING A List of New Books Compiled by The Management and Government Information Center (MAGIC) Chinn Park Regional Library 703-792-4880Summer 2007 Indicates titles relating to the FISH Philosophy 365 Foolish Mistakes Smart Managers Make Every Day: How and Why to Avoid Them by Shri L. Henkel, 2006 interesting. Is anyone else here familiar with the FISH philosphy? i[/quote:2v18lglp] Congrats on the mention of your book! Hopefully it will drive up sales! For myself, I don't really care for their acronym... MAGIC. Gives people the subtle impression that good things happen at the snap of a finger instead of lots of hard work!
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.


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.

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

Mistakes Made by New or Inexperienced Sales Staff

B2B PR – Planning for Success

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.