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Financial Analysis for Evaluating a Franchise opportunity

Guest post by: Ed Teixeira

Article Overview: When evaluating a franchise opportunity there is typically a great deal of focus directed on the business concept, franchise contract, franchisor support and franchisee performance. Each of these areas rightfully deserve attention. However, one area that requires as much if not more focus is in the area of financial analysis.

Financial Analysis for Evaluating a Franchise opportunity

When evaluating a franchise opportunity there is typically a great deal of focus directed on the business concept, franchise contract, franchisor support and franchisee performance. Each of these areas rightfully deserve attention. However, one area that requires as much if not more focus is in the area of financial analysis. Although, the term financial analysis can conjure up visions of boring number crunching this activity is important when considering the purchase of a franchise as well as any business. Since you'll have a limited amount of capital to invest in the franchise you need to be on target when identifying your capial requirements. You should have an accountant or qualified financial advisor to assist you in the process. Here are some key items that need to be a part of the financial analysis: In-depth review of the franchisor's financial statements from the FDD. Unless you're dealing with the larger franchisor's you want to be sure that the franchisor has sufficent capital to operate the franchise. The franchisor shouldn't be relying upon initial franchise fees for their main source of funding or earnings. Fully understand Item 7 of the FDD. It describes the estimated investment in a specific franchise. Scrutiny of the franchise financial formula. This process involves indentifying and evaluating the components of the product or service sale leading to the gross margin. Sample sale price, product, labor costs, royalty and ad fees,etc. are in the formula. This is one of the most important elements of your financial analysis and may require you to do some "digging" to get all of the information you need. A 3-5 year Pro-forma income statement that projects sales, gross margin, expenses and earnings. You should be conservative and not aggressive when projecting. Feedback from current franchisees will provide valuable input when constructing a pro-forma. A cash flow projection for the first 3-5 years of the franchise operation. You need this to establish if your sales and income will be sufficent relative to your available working capital. If you and your advisor perform a thorough financial analysis, in addition to evaluating the other areas of the franchise opportunity, then your odds of choosing the right franchise will increase dramatically.

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Article Tags: business concept, franchise contract, franchise opportunity, franchisee, franchisor support



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.
Franchising vs. Licensing - While Ken's definition of a franchise is correct, I disagree with his statement that a franchise and a license can mean the same thing. A franchise [u:2pwsjr5r]contains [/u:2pwsjr5r]two licenses. A trademark license (the name and fee) and a business opportunity license (a system and a fee). The combination of those licenses in the same relationship creates a franchise. If you want to license a business opportunity, you need to tell your licensee that they [u:2pwsjr5r]cannot use your trademark[/u:2pwsjr5r]. If this is your growth strategy, you will neglect to build a brand. While that is not always important, it often is. We tell our clients not to think of whether a particular business relationship will be, but instead to structure the relationship the way it makes sense from a business perspective. If it then turns out to be a franchise or a license, then so be it. The difference in cost between the two forms of expansion, done properly, is not very signficant. If you are interested in learning more, I would be happy to send you a free copy of a one hour seminar on "How to Franchise a Business." It goes into some detail on this topic. You can write to the email below or get it on my website.


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