Franchising 101 - Finding Great Information
Franchising 101 - Finding Great Information
Now Frankie understands he made a really expensive mistake. He still likes the sandwiches, but he is struggling with the employees, the hours, and the general public. Turns out, the franchise isn’t a right fit for him. But his life savings are tied up in it, and he has to make the business successful before anyone will buy it.
Frankie believed he did his homework. He did spend a lot of time, and he read the franchise materials provided - what went wrong?
He didn’t begin his franchise education at the beginning - Frankie skipped right to Step Four.
Don’t end up like Frankie. Accomplish the following franchise investigation steps to decide what you really want and need, then to ensure you’ll be able to identify it when you see it.
Step One: Take a long, honest look at yourself. If you don’t already have a life vision that excites you, create one. Then assess your skills, and look at what types of businesses you would be good at. (Hint - assess your skills, not your likes.) Make sure your income and lifestyle goals are quantifiable.
Step Two: Understand business ownership. Study the mentality of franchise owners and understand why people own their own businesses. (Hint - it’s not just about getting away from “the man.”)
Step Three: find out more about franchising as a whole. A little research here will widen your view of how franchising works, of what you really purchase when you buy a franchise, and of what’s available (Hint - franchising is about so much more than fast food and mufflers!)
There are a lot of franchise resources accessible, from consultants to books and magazines, and it goes without saying that there are countless web sites as well. Of course, if you want one-stop shopping, I can’t help but recommend The Educated Franchisee, The How-To Book for Choosing a Winning Franchise. In all sincerity, I wrote the book because, as a Franchise Consultant, I have often been disturbed by the sad stories of people who got into franchising for the wrong reasons, or got into the wrong franchise - it’s tragic, really, when you realize that a little bit better preparation can make the difference between success and failure.
If you’re not ready to invest to a book and want to dip your toe in the water first, here are some web sites that can help. You may be on educatedfranchisee.com already, reading this article. If not, that’s a sound place to begin. There is a lot of franchise information on the site, ranging from a Recommended Reading List to FRANdata’s “Profile of Franchising,” and numerous other franchise resources.
Two other valuable sites are The International Franchise Association site: franchise.org and Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise Zone. Entrepreneur also publishes “The Entrepreneur Franchise 500” every January.
These resources will offer information on investment level requirements for different types of franchises, and will probably open your eyes as to what types of franchises are available.
The last step is to look into individual franchise companies. The simplest way to do this is to work with a franchise consultant (full disclosure - I am a franchise consultant as well as an author), or to work with each individual franchise directly. Here are the tools franchisors typically make available to franchise candidates:
The initial package: Franchisors provide brochures, DVDs and web sites designed to give you an overview of their specific franchise opportunity.
The FDD (Franchise Disclosure Document): This is the standard disclosure document that all franchisors provide. It includes information on the company’s history, the backgrounds of key executives, costs and fees, obligations of the parties, litigation experience, success rate information, audited financial statements, and a list of existing franchisees for you to contact. Many franchisors also include information on franchisees’ earnings although they are not required to do so.
Speak with existing franchisees: choose a number of franchisees from the list in the FDD. Call them to obtain a wealth of information. Do they like the business? Would they buy it again? What do they do every day? How was the initial training? How is the on-going support? Are they reaching their financial goals? How long have they been in business? What is their relationship with the franchisor? And so on. Prepare your questions carefully. If you are looking for a good list of questions to ask, go to the download section of educatedfranchisee.com. You will find hundreds of questions to ask.
Meet the franchisor: Attend a Discovery Day at the franchisor’s headquarters. Meet the staff, and be sure you believe they are competent and that you’ll be comfortable asking for and accepting advice and guidance from them.
When you have collected all the franchise information you need, you can decide if the franchise is a good fit and if it gives you a high probability of achieving your goals. Then make an educated yes or no decision, and move forward. (Hint: “hopes and dreams alone are not a good reason to buy a franchise! Gathering solid information is the way to exponentially increase your chances for meeting and exceeding your franchising goals!)
Franchising 101 Finding Great Information - To learn more about this author, visit Rick Bisio's Website.
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Frankie was eating a sandwich at a fast food franchise. He liked the sandwich. The place was packed. “This place must be a gold mine,” he thought. He called the franchisor, carefully study the franchise information the franchisor provided, talked to a number of franchisees, went to discovery day, rounded up his down payment, and opened his doors.
Now Frankie understands he made a really expensive mistake. He still likes the sandwiches, but he is struggling with the employees, the hours, and the general public. Turns out, the franchise isn’t a right fit for him. But his life savings are tied up in it, and he has to make the business successful before anyone will buy it.
Frankie believed he did his homework. He did spend a lot of time, and he read the franchise materials provided - what went wrong?
He didn’t begin his franchise education at the beginning - Frankie skipped right to Step Four.
Don’t end up like Frankie. Accomplish the following franchise investigation steps to decide what you really want and need, then to ensure you’ll be able to identify it when you see it.
Step One: Take a long, honest look at yourself. If you don’t already have a life vision that excites you, create one. Then assess your skills, and look at what types of businesses you would be good at. (Hint - assess your skills, not your likes.) Make sure your income and lifestyle goals are quantifiable.
Step Two: Understand business ownership. Study the mentality of franchise owners and understand why people own their own businesses. (Hint - it’s not just about getting away from “the man.”)
Step Three: find out more about franchising as a whole. A little research here will widen your view of how franchising works, of what you really purchase when you buy a franchise, and of what’s available (Hint - franchising is about so much more than fast food and mufflers!)
There are a lot of franchise resources accessible, from consultants to books and magazines, and it goes without saying that there are countless web sites as well. Of course, if you want one-stop shopping, I can’t help but recommend The Educated Franchisee, The How-To Book for Choosing a Winning Franchise. In all sincerity, I wrote the book because, as a Franchise Consultant, I have often been disturbed by the sad stories of people who got into franchising for the wrong reasons, or got into the wrong franchise - it’s tragic, really, when you realize that a little bit better preparation can make the difference between success and failure.
If you’re not ready to invest to a book and want to dip your toe in the water first, here are some web sites that can help. You may be on educatedfranchisee.com already, reading this article. If not, that’s a sound place to begin. There is a lot of franchise information on the site, ranging from a Recommended Reading List to FRANdata’s “Profile of Franchising,” and numerous other franchise resources.
Two other valuable sites are The International Franchise Association site: franchise.org and Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise Zone. Entrepreneur also publishes “The Entrepreneur Franchise 500” every January.
These resources will offer information on investment level requirements for different types of franchises, and will probably open your eyes as to what types of franchises are available.
The last step is to look into individual franchise companies. The simplest way to do this is to work with a franchise consultant (full disclosure - I am a franchise consultant as well as an author), or to work with each individual franchise directly. Here are the tools franchisors typically make available to franchise candidates:
The initial package: Franchisors provide brochures, DVDs and web sites designed to give you an overview of their specific franchise opportunity.
The FDD (Franchise Disclosure Document): This is the standard disclosure document that all franchisors provide. It includes information on the company’s history, the backgrounds of key executives, costs and fees, obligations of the parties, litigation experience, success rate information, audited financial statements, and a list of existing franchisees for you to contact. Many franchisors also include information on franchisees’ earnings although they are not required to do so.
Speak with existing franchisees: choose a number of franchisees from the list in the FDD. Call them to obtain a wealth of information. Do they like the business? Would they buy it again? What do they do every day? How was the initial training? How is the on-going support? Are they reaching their financial goals? How long have they been in business? What is their relationship with the franchisor? And so on. Prepare your questions carefully. If you are looking for a good list of questions to ask, go to the download section of educatedfranchisee.com. You will find hundreds of questions to ask.
Meet the franchisor: Attend a Discovery Day at the franchisor’s headquarters. Meet the staff, and be sure you believe they are competent and that you’ll be comfortable asking for and accepting advice and guidance from them.
When you have collected all the franchise information you need, you can decide if the franchise is a good fit and if it gives you a high probability of achieving your goals. Then make an educated yes or no decision, and move forward. (Hint: “hopes and dreams alone are not a good reason to buy a franchise! Gathering solid information is the way to exponentially increase your chances for meeting and exceeding your franchising goals!)
Franchising 101 Finding Great Information - To learn more about this author, visit Rick Bisio's Website.
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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For an online Car Loan Calculator and finance for a cheap car loan. Get approved on car loans or car finance in Australia with cheap bank car loans and finding a car finance broker. Commercial car loans including business car finance and car lease. Car Loan Calculator has information on finance companies and getting the right cheap car loan from banks at best car loan rates and a online car loan calculator for all finance in Australia. Get the best car finance with our help at Car Loan Calculator and Finance Ezi. - Visit Richard Jefferies's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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