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Training programmes for franchisees

Written by: Diarmuid Kieran

Article Overview: The importance of training franchisees and how to do it.

Training programmes for franchisees

In order for franchisees to be successful at running their business, they need to go on well-organised and correctly structured training courses.

This is a key issue that potential franchisees need to ask the franchiser about before an agreement is signed, although the good news is that over the past ten years, the vast majority of franchisers have put in place a start-up training programme.

In fact, in the 2006 annual UK franchise survey by the British Franchise Association and NatWest, 100 per cent of franchisers said a formal training programme is provided.

Therefore, it comes down to the quality of training on offer and there are a number of subjects that people thinking of buying a franchise should find out about as part of the decision making process.

It is essential that franchisees know the basic details such as the contents of the initial franchise training course, whether learning materials are provided, how much management training is given and what ongoing training development programmes are available once the franchisees are established, including any refresher courses.

In addition, the initial course needs to be long enough to give people sufficient time to learn the necessary business methods and requirements.

However, just because a course lasts longer than those provided by other franchisers in its sector does not automatically mean it will be more beneficial.

Potential franchisees are advised to obtain more detailed information than this so that they can be confident the training available will give them every chance of doing well.

For instance, will they be taught about how to handle a marketing campaign and any financial issues which arise in addition to managing the unit and obtaining and selling the product or how to carry out the service?

The amount of training franchisees will need to provide their staff with, including the tools and training techniques given to help them, and the franchiser's training courses workers can go on should be made clear during initial training.

Potential franchisees should try to find out the background and qualifications of the people who conduct the training to ensure that they have the relevant experience.

They must also research the successfulness of any external course run by specialist organisations in business management skills that in many cases make up part of the training programme.

If franchisees know the vast majority or all of this information, it will be much easier for them to spot the difference between excellent and average training programmes.

Copyright Adfero 2006

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