Tweet

17 Questions to Ask Existing Franchisees

Written by: Tom Parsley

Article Overview: Visiting a franchisee is most likely a two step process. The first step is to visit the franchisee unannounced during their peak hours. Be a “secret shopper”.

17 Questions to Ask Existing Franchisees

Visiting a franchisee is most likely a two step process. The first step is to visit the franchisee unannounced during their peak hours. Be a “secret shopper”. This will give you a feel of how the franchise operation reacts under pressure (for more information please refer to my article titled “Be a franchisee Secret Shopper”).

The second step is to make an appointment to visit the franchisee during non peak hours. Set up an appointment to visit when you can get the attention of the owner. However, before you walk in to visit, you must prepare. You will want to develop a number of printed questions with space to record your answers. Here are some sample questions:

1) Why did you select this franchise over others in the same industry?

2) Are you generally happy with the franchisor? Do you feel that you receive value in return for the franchise fees that you pay?

3) Does the franchise name have value in this industry?

4) What is your labor situation like? Do you have difficulty in hiring or retaining quality employees?

5) Are your personal working hours more, less, or about what you expected? Do you have key employees that you can rely on?

6) Did you encounter any problems with your site selection? Did the franchisor assist you?

7) Was the initial training provided for you and other key employees adequate?

8) Did the franchisor assist you with your Grand Opening or other promotional stuff?

9) Has the franchisor stepped up to the plate with any ongoing support?

10)Has the franchisor provided any co-operative advertising? Has the advertising benefited you?

11) Does the franchisor provide any operating, billing, or accounting systems for you? How do you like them?

12) Is the franchisor proactive in developing web based training and support functions?

13) Does the franchisor provide a web site for you or if not do they assist you with the construction of your site?

14) Is the franchisor receptive to ideas from you on how to improve operations?

15) What trends do you see developing in this industry?

16) Do you have plans to open additional franchise units?

17) If you had to do it all over again, would you? How would you do things differently?

In addition to these standard questions you should have developed other questions from your prior “secret shopper” experience. You will likely develop other thought patterns during your visit. Don’t be afraid to ask. Take as much time as you need or as much time as the owner will give you. Absorb everything that you can. There is no such thing as too much information.

When talking to the franchise owner make sure to pay attention to the owner’s body language. Is his or her eye contact good? Are they evasive? Are they believable?

If you think about it there are many considerations when it comes to making a decision on which franchise opportunity to chase. You can talk to the franchisor, you can research the opportunity on the franchisor’s web site, and you can enlist the assistance of many other professionals. But in my opinion there is no substitute for actually observing an existing franchise operation is action. That gut feel that you get when you walk in the door is so important. When you combine that shopping experience with good solid answers to the above questions you will develop a foundation for success.

Related Articles
  Evaluating the franchisor
  Top Ten Questions To Ask When Exploring Franchises
  Twenty Questions to Ask before you Buy a Franchise
  Questions to Ask a Franchisor When Buying a Franchise
  Franchise Marketing Plan

Article Tags: accounting systems, appointment, franchise fees, franchise name, franchise operation, franchisee, franchisor, grand opening, initial training, labor situation, ongoing support, peak hours, proactive, quality employees, sample questions, secret shopper, site selection, support functions, web based training



Related Forum Posts
Re: Marketing ideas? - Questions will set you free... And make you Rich [quote="KH_Global":349pds7c]Just ask ask ask. That is it.[/quote:349pds7c]
Re: Contact Information - Another idea would be to have an email form in place to accept "ticketed" inquires (if people are afraid of spammers seeing their email address). However, I hate how some sites try to persuade you out of sending an email by bombarding you with lists of "Frequently Asked Questions & Answers" as I find they're rarely helpful.
Re: 40 cents per dollar is spent in a franchised business - Hey Ringo, In general terms the location itself isn't even looked at until the franchise agreement is signed and the fees are paid to the franchisor. Then and only then do they start looking for a location. This is common practice and with the plethora of commercial locations that are available right now we are seeing landlords bend over backwards on negotiations to get a good tenant. That being said, the area is what the franchisor will look at on the demographics, they won't generally put a franchise in an area just because a buyer wants it there, most times the buyers have a preconceived notion of what they consider "the right spot". The franchisor has the data to support specific demographics, so that is where the help comes into play. The due diligence items I recommend looking into prior to buying are: 1. Average Expenses. 2. Average Revenues. 3. Litigation. 4. Business model. 5. Training. 6. Existing franchisees. Most of the time once you get through those things the rest is easy to get through. You need to know how much it cost, how much you can make, what is your exposure legally, is the model right, who/how are you trained and talk to as many existing franchisees as you can. You are looking for consistency. There is absolutely no way that every single franchise owner is happy with the home office, it is just impossible. You are looking for consistency, hearing the same things in general. Numbers, support, training, advertising, marketing, ongoing training, growth, industry etc... If you don't hear consistent things, most likely the model isn't working in all markets or there is something else affecting it like industry or distribution or training.
Synergy and Other Creative Insights - Truth is that there is [u:2iwgooi1]C[/u:2iwgooi1]ollaboration - on a formal basis and [u:2iwgooi1]c[/u:2iwgooi1]ollaboration which is informal. Let's say that you have a great new product. Before it launches you get loads of buddies in the same business as you to tear it apart and let you refine it. Creative people will get others in as well. people from outside the business - or those who are in the business who might not have anything to do with it and seek their input - listening hard. These aren't focus groups, they are way beyond this - they are real outsiders and thus have very open minds, asking the dumb, the stupid questions, which are often the most valuable. Questions like these help me be a good coach too! I once worked in a business where the backshop (the store room) was always untidy. They held a team meeting and had the cook in as well (you know the one who ran the employee facility). She knew nothing about the storeroom and its processes, but boy did she ask some tricky questions of them. Sometimes, little 'c' collaboration is real good at the mocro level, without which the big 'C' collaboration would be worthless.
Re: link exchange strategy - [quote="RussellWebb":2xvcpjwz]Questions that pop into mind... Does PR ranking effect 'who' you would exchange links with? Do you really need thousands of links to rank higher in the SE's? Are one-way links better than reciprocal links?[/quote:2xvcpjwz] Hi Russell, While I know you posed these SEO questions for Samin, I thought I'd help you get the conversation started by putting in my 2 cents. 1.) I think it's all about getting "quality" and high ranking/trusted sites (that are related to the content of your site and industry) to link back to you. 2.) While it's somewhat true that the more links you have the better, I'd suggest focusing on "quality" links rather than quantity. Poor sites and ones that aren't related to your field can actually hurt your rankings. 3.) Absolutely, it's much better if someone only links to you. However, reciprocal links are still good for those who have just launched a new site and are getting started. If I'm wrong about any of these comments, please feel free to correct me.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Let's Skip the Offshore Horror Stories

Adapting to Technology and the Internet

Why Small Businesses Don't Survive

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.