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Maximizing Discovery Day

Written by: Rick Bisio

Article Overview: Most Franchisors require a Discovery Day prior to signing a franchise agreement. The Discovery Day is a chance for them to get to know you and for your to get to know the franchisor. Being prepared will make your Discovery Day much more successful.

Maximizing Discovery Day

You’ve discovered a franchise that appears to be a good fit. You’ve talked to existing franchisees, read the FDD, and gathered nearly all the franchise information you need. Now it’s time for Discovery Day.

Discovery Day constitutes a two-way street organized for you to discover more about the franchisor, and for the franchisor to discover more about you. Not all franchisors hold discovery days, but most do. Discovery Days are generally scheduled at the end of the discovery process and are held at the franchisor’s headquarters. This ensures that time can be spent focusing on the franchise information issues that can only be answered face to face.

It’s your chance to meet the franchise management team, assess their operation, and complete your franchise education. It’s the franchisor’s opportunity to make a decision on whether or not you are likely to be a successful franchisee.

Make certain you put your best foot forward and avoid these 6 common pitfalls!

1. Remember to sell yourself.
A top quality franchise is awarded - not sold. This is not like purchasing a car. This is more like a marriage. Both parties are entering into a long term relationship. Franchisors want to be as certain as possible that you will be successful in their franchise system. They want you to strengthen the brand. They want you to be an active learner so you won’t need 24/7 support on a long term basis. A franchisor becomes more successful when they only allow high quality franchisees into their system.

2. Have a financial plan
By now, you should have went over your finances in detail with the franchise development person. However, be ready to prove you are financially prepared with the right finances and an understanding regarding the P&L. It shows you are a serious business person. It doesn’t mean that you will definitely buy this particular franchise; however, it does mean you can afford to buy this franchise and pay your bills until the business becomes self-sustaining.

3. Dress appropriately
Some candidates consider Discovery Day as a day off work and show up in jeans. If you were the franchisor, would that impress you? The best approach is to dress the way you would if you were already a franchisee in that business and you were going to meet your most important customer. That might be business casual, but it won’t be jeans or flip flops. An even better way would be to ask the office administrator how the senior staff dress and then dress the same way.

4. Demonstrate your willingness to learn the system.
Don’t try to impress the franchisor with your knowledge of the industry and your thoughts on how to improve the franchise system. Digressing from the system is one of the leading causes of franchise failure. The franchisor will want to hear that you are impressed with their proven system (which you must be, or you wouldn’t be interested in buying it!) and that you are willing and able to follow the system.

If you can’t express this sincerely, franchising isn’t for you. Be sincere with yourself before you get this far in the franchise education process. There are people who cannot follow another person’s system. They love making up the rules, taking risks, and are willing to accept the consequences - good or bad. This is fine! But if this describes you, get a hobby that fulfills this need, stay in your day job, or buy an independent business.

5. Be proactive, be prepared.
At a Discovery day you want to be impressed - but you also want to be impressive. Prepare as you would be for a big job interview. By now you’ve listed your skills and matched them to the skills needed in this franchise (for more information on how to do this, see Chapter 4 of the franchise book The Educated Franchisee). Talk about your past experiences as they relate to running your franchise. Past success is an excellent indicator of future success - franchisors want to hear about your achievements and your expectations for your new business. Ask good questions that show your interest. Be a good listener.

6. Make sure you fit the corporate culture.
If you don’t like or trust the franchisor, don’t join the system. In addition, if you are not at ease with the franchisees that you have interviewed, don’t join the system. Sounds logic but it is important. It could mean that you are a bad fit for this corporate culture. Don’t presume you can work around this or that it will get better. Your chances for success are best when you connect with both the franchisors management team and the franchisees.

Avoid these 6 mistakes and use Discovery Day to your advantage. With the correct attitude and some preparation you can make sure Discovery Day ends with you being in the driver’s seat!

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Article Tags: active learner, best foot, business person, discovery day, discovery days, fdd, franchise development, franchise education, franchise information, franchise management, franchise system, franchisee, franchisees, franchisor, information issues, long term relationship, purchasing a car, quality franchise, serious business, term basis



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Re: My own page - [quote="OmnivoreInk":2xk5rdol]I also have Google as my home page, because I've got about 8 different Newsfeeds on it, from Science and Discovery to BBC news (which for some reason never talks about news in England except sports, and while I like sports - I don't care for soccer which is all they ever talk about!)[/quote:2xk5rdol] I use iGoogle with a few different news feeds on it as well, including EvanCarmichael.com feed and Sitepoint.
My own page - [quote="JWDesignCenter":kjuv6z19]Mine is google. I used to have my own page on it.. but i felt it was messing up my stats. This way if i need to search for something, i can right when my internet opens.[/quote:kjuv6z19] I also have Google as my home page, because I've got about 8 different Newsfeeds on it, from Science and Discovery to BBC news (which for some reason never talks about news in England except sports, and while I like sports - I don't care for soccer which is all they ever talk about!) But I take the science related headlines and report them on my own science blog..so I find the google news pages invaluable.
Re: Can someone explain Search engine optimization to me? - If you use a good keyword research tool like Keyword Discovery or WordTracker, you'll find a lot of solid profitable keyword phrases that don't make a lot of sense. You should also be able to uncover some phrases that make better sense and still have a decent profitability. By profitability, I mean the keyword phrases have a decent search volume but a low lever of competition. I always teach that you have to write for real people first and the search engines second. If you try to weave a strange keyword phrase into your article with a fixed keyword density, it will sound strange and that can affect your credibility and trust.
Re: Herbert Elwood Gilliland III: I Invented YouTube - Hi Herb, Thanks for sharing with us! While continuing to be impartial, I think it's wrong but definitely understandable why many onlookers will simply write these claims up as "baseless" and "delusional" without doing their due diligence. 1. I think the Web 2.0 space is a great platform to voice any concerns [u:1j6c9q4p]where the public feels like they're involved[/u:1j6c9q4p]. Many causes and charities, for example, have been able to connect with the public on a much deeper level than simply being informative. I mean it is a story, but why should others care? 2. I can't imagine much can be done without some solid legal and technical facts. Discovery! 3. Get as many facts as possible. Probably use some kind of unconventional tactics to leverage the public's awareness on this matter. [u:1j6c9q4p]Tech blogs, Facebook, Web 2.0 blogs, authority sites on social media, technology law blogs etc. [/u:1j6c9q4p] Good luck Herbert!
Frumpy or sleek? The wrong face drives away customers - I've got a Discovery News Feed on my Google Desktop, and every morning I usually click on one or two headlines. The first time I do this, I'm always brought to a "splash page" or "ad page" or whatever it's called, in which a frumpy woman (middle aged, bad hair cut - or just on a bad hair day, pinny over her dress, clutching a few papers and smiling) is juxtaposed over some ad about the dangers of high cholesterol and what to do about it. Now, I am a feminist, and I see no reason why middle aged women should have to primp and preen and watch their weight (any more than younger women should) and that these women can advertise anything just as well as anybody else...but the fact remains that I pay no attention to this ad because this "face" simply doesn't inspire confidence as someone who would know anything about cholesterol. It's "just" a housewife. Put the same woman - same expression and everything - in a white lab coat and I might pay more attention to her. Have this woman as she now is trying to sell chocolate cake or something like that, and I'd pay attention to her. But as it is, the image doesn't inspire confidence in the message.


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