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The Read Value of a Professional Franchise Consultant

Written by: Ken Hollowell

Article Overview: Ken Hollowell discusses and explains why a franchise consultant could benefit your company if you intend to franchise.

The Read Value of a Professional Franchise Consultant

In the mid 1970's when I began consulting with business owners there were only a hand full of consultants who specialized in franchise development. Back then, the Federal Trade Commission's Rule 436 had not even been active. The only regulations on franchising were in fifteen (15) states that adopted the Uniform Franchise Offering Circular (UFOC) where a franchisor could not offer a franchise within their jurisdiction without prior registration and review of the document. Today a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) is required in all regulation states as well as nationally. This document, depending on the actually business system and opportunity being described may be anywhere from 40 pages upwards to a 100 pages. There are 23 basic items that MUST be disclosure with numerous sub items. Before the FDD can be prepared, a franchisor needs to have the proper business structure or entity created along with a name that can be trademarked federally through the United States Patient and Trade Mark Office in Washington, D.C. The trade name is the corner stone of the franchise business. As the name is branded regionally and nationally, more valuable the franchise becomes. Brand name recognition by the general public is what all franchisors strive to obtain and achieve over time.

As you can already see, a consultant teaches, informs and prepare the new franchise client for franchising. The more knowledgeable the franchisor becomes the better equipped the company is to make the proper decision related to franchise. One of the most important factors in franchising is the franchise system. Developing a concept or existing business into a franchise system requires many decision. And for every decision to be made there may be multiple options to consider.

Profran Consultants uses a 21 page questionnaire to learn particular facts about the business concept. Most young franchisors discover that during the franchise development process, they learn things about many aspects of their business never before considered. Often a young franchisor will state I would have never considered all of the options available to me had I not decided to franchise my business.

An experienced and seasoned franchise consultant can make the transaction from business owner to franchisor exciting, enjoyable and effortless in most cases. One of the most common questions is, "don't I have to go to an attorney to develop a franchise?" My answer often surprises most potential clients when I say, "Not in the early stages of development." Unless the attorney is a franchise business consultant in addition to being an attorney, the answer is no. Attorneys are trained to provide legal advice and prepare legal documents. How can an attorney assist or help you when there has been no evaluation of your business provided or business system developed? Many franchisors have waste time and money having an attorney prepares the required document before the franchise system has even been developed. There is a time and place for the attorney involvement but not necessarily at the beginning. One of the most important tools in the franchise system is the franchise operations manual. Contained within the FDD is the actual franchise agreement that franchise candidates sign. The franchise agreement refers to the operations manual in many places therefore how can an attorney prepare an agreement without knowledge of the operations of the business contained in the operations manual?

As a franchise consultant I've consulted with thousands of business owners who were considering franchising their business. The majority of those were recommended NOT to franchise because of one or more factors. But over 800 over the past 30 plus years were encourage to proceed with their dream to franchise. Business and management evaluation is extremely necessary in making the decision to franchise. Franchise is not for every business or everyone.

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Article Tags: franchise consultant, ken hollowell, our business, profran consultants



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What is the Best Franchise? - As a Franchise Consultant I get asked this question on a daily basis. I work with clients to help them find the right franchise and through those conversations they almost always as me: "What is the Best Franchise?". There is no single answer for this question as the answer truly depends on the criteria you set as a perspective franchise owner. Meaning, maybe you want a retail location with 5 employees or a home based franchise with zero employees. Either way, the word "best" becomes relative to what is important to you. I realized quite some time ago that I could never "sell" a franchise to anyone. The only way someone will buy a franchise is if it makes sense for them & their family. Performing the proper due diligence is key to finding the best franchise for you.
Re: what position to request? - Hi Michael, Great suggestion from David, or you could try something around a design consultancy, How about Website Design Consultant, Design and Development Manager, Website Support and Development Manager or maybe Internet Business Development Consultant. Ultimately whatever you are comfortable with and good luck for the future, Mal.
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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.


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