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Researching Franchises: The Importance of Interviewing Existing Franchisees
| Guest post by: Anne Barr |
Article Overview: When researching franchise opportunities, it is very important to contact past and present franchisees to determine if the franchise is a good fit for you. This article gives an overview of some questions you should ask.
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Free Download - Transfers vs. New First Time Franchisees By Anne Barr |
Researching Franchises: The Importance of Interviewing Existing Franchisees
When researching franchise opportunities, it is important to contact several (at least 15) current and past franchisees. One of the key components of the Franchise Disclosure Document that the franchisor is required to provide to you is a list of current franchisees and those that have left the system within the last year.
When starting this part of the research process, you must be patient - it can take a while. You must remember that the current franchisees are very busy running their businesses. Be prepared to play phone tag and try and make yourself available when they return phone calls. They are doing you a favor by taking time out of their day to talk to you.
You must also be respectful, do not call and let the first question out of your mouth be - how much money do you make? Start slow and ask how the business is going, what made them decide to purchase this particular franchise, and are they happy.
Important information you want to learn from each current franchisee includes:
• Their background, former jobs, experience, education, etc. (this information helps you compare your background information to theirs to help you decide if they are like you and if this franchise might be a good fit for you)
• Why they decided to purchase the franchise?
• How are they getting along with the franchisor?
• Is it what they expected?
• How long did it take to reach break-even, profitability, etc.
• If they had it to do all over again, would they buy the same franchise
Former franchisees are also a wealth of information. You should be sure and find out:
• Their background, former jobs, experience, education, etc.
• Why they decided to purchase the franchise
• Why they left the franchise system
The information you will obtain from the past and present franchisees will be invaluable to your research process. It will be key in your decision to become
a franchisee of a particular franchise or not.
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About the Author: Anne Barr RSS for Anne's articles - Visit Anne's website Click here to visit Anne's website   Franchise Resales Going Green Reasons Not To Buy A Franchise Debunked 2010 Some Important Changes In How We Do Business In the Franchise Industry Franchise Rule Changes |
Related Forum Posts
Re: Service Or Product?
- I agree with starting a Service-based Business in the economy. Here is what I think is critical:
1. Researching that your Service business has a market.
2. Marketing the Service with as much leverage as possible.
3. Product-izing the Service (aka Package Expert Knowledge). This will only help elevate you as "the" expert in your niche and make you accessible to people in different price points.
franchisebrief.com good clean design
- I actually really like the design - it's clean and not busy. The information is easy to find.
You mentioned you didn't want to monetize from the site thru the use of adwords but what about JV'ing with all or most of the Franchises you are referring people to.
Is that possible in the Franchise industry?
Re: Franchise Support. What is it to you?
- To be honest I have never been a big believer in Franchises.
Which of them did you have the best and worst experience with, when you called in as an "interested buyer"?
Clothing Franchises
- I believe that there are quite a few franchises for larger brands such as Diesel, Lacoste and Bennetton etc... but I am not sure how these contracts work.
In New Zealand, Canada & Switzerland Clothing Franchises are for smaller designer brands & Outdoor clothing -- such as Bivouac, the great Outdoors etc
Ian
Top performing Franchise Loans
- Evan,
There are over 120 Franchises listed by the SBA with 0% Loan Failure from 10-1-00 to 9-30-05 these companies have at leat 10 loans disbursed.
A number of the companies are Hotel/Motel Franchises so I listed them separately.
Since all the ones listed have 0% loan failure I listed them descending by # of loans disbursed.
Top 20 (by # loans Disbursed) 0% SBA Loan Failure (does not include hotels/motels)
1 21425--CULVER'S FROZEN CUSTARD 85
2 66910--PRIMROSE SCHOOL (DAYCARE) 76
3 14467--CARTRIDGE WORLD STORES 54
4 68021--QUIZNO'S SUBS 41
5 06560--AUNTIE ANN'S (SOFT PRETZELS) 40
6 29912--FIREHOUSE SUBS 35
7 31154--FOOT SOLUTIONS 35
8 52707--MEDICAP PHARMACY 35
9 09802--BEN & JERRY'S ICE CREAM 33
10 67759--COMFORT SUITES 33
11 70150--RITTER'S FROZEN CUSTARD 32
12 05650--ARBY'S 31
13 65160--PLATO'S CLOSET 31
14 67417--PUMP IT UP 30
15 69149--REMAX 30
16 71456--SALAD WORKS, INC. 30
17 76282--SONIC DRIVE-IN 27
18 84725--UNION 76 OIL 27
19 17049--CHRISTIAN BROTHERS AUTOMOTIVE 26
20 78950--SUNOCO SERVICE STATION 26
Top 10 0% SBA Loan Failure Hotel/Motels
1 10275--BEST WESTERN INN 104
2 67750--COMFORT INN 98
3 38605--HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS 87
4 36680--HAMPTON INNS 57
5 53165--MICROTEL 33
6 75385--SLEEP INN MOTEL 26
7 04160--AMERIHOST INN 18
8 69134--RED ROOF INN 13
9 17230--CLARION INN & SUITES 11
10 20715--COUNTRY INN 11
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