Your business is established and you have expanded into a franchise successfully. This is great news and often enough to make a business owner want to grow their franchise. After all, if something works a few times, why would not it work several dozen or several hundred times? There is proof of this in many of the country’s most successful franchise operations and it is the dream of nearly everyone who decides to expand his or her business into a franchise.

So what’s next?

First, it is important to have an expansion plan in place. What is a reasonable timeline for expanding your business and what are some of the obstacles you might encounter when following this timeline. Franchise ownership can be more predictable than other types of business ownership, but unexpected occurrences are still out there. It is a good idea to have in place a detailed one year plan for expansion, as well as a more general – and more flexible – five-year plan of growth.

Included in your longer terms plans should be business goals. Many people think of business goals in terms of revenue, but you have other methods by which to measure success. Think about what could help your business grow over the next several years and how those things can translate into goals.

For instance, would it help your franchise expansion plans to launch or expand a website or e-commerce site? What about marketing and public relations? Are there additional products or services you would like your franchises to offer? Getting a clear picture of how your business can be at its strongest is important before you further expand your franchise.

Finally, it is important to get a handle on both the risks and the benefits of expanding an existing franchise. This gives you a realistic picture and allows you to plan accordingly. If you would like more information on expanding an existing franchise, give us a call!