Each year, smart and ambitious business owners across the country consider franchising. They want to scale their businesses. They want to grow. They want more financial freedom.
Unfortunately, many never get beyond daydreaming about franchise development.
Maybe they think they don’t have the time, resources, or energy. Maybe they are afraid of failure. Maybe they simply don’t know how to start.
The last of these is the most likely reason a franchise never gets off the ground. After all, franchising your business can be a complicated process. The first step is to find out if your business is a right fit for franchising. Take our free franchise feasibility assessment to find out. Then follow these five steps for new franchise development that can help transform your dreams into reality.
1) Eat, sleep, and breathe your business.
Scaling a business is all about precision. You’re going to need to know exactly how everything happens, why it happens, and how to explain the hows and whys to other owners.
It’s not guesswork.
You’re going to have to understand your business inside and out—and then put it all down on paper (and digital assets) so your franchisees can recreate it time and time again.
2) Identify your ideal rate of growth.
Are you going national, or is opening a few regional franchises a better way to grow?
Once you understand your business from the inside out, you need to start thinking about the best rate of growth. This decision should be based on where your business model is most likely to work, what your competition is, and how well you will be able to build your brand in new territories.
Knowing your growth rate will help you identify the right franchisees.
3) Be picky about your franchisees.
Your franchisees are more than just people with whom you do business. They are your ambassadors. They are extensions of your brand. They are, in a very real sense, your representatives.
So be picky about whom you choose as franchisees.
You are likely to meet many people who are enthusiastic about your business. They may even have the financial means to make it work. But they also have to possess the business acumen, experience, and work ethic to make their franchise successful.
You know that businesses don’t run on enthusiasm alone. So make sure to choose franchisees who bring more to the table than a lot of energy.
4) Allow freedom—but not too much.
Setting restrictions and being prescriptive about expectations and protocols is critical to successful franchise development. But so, too, is allowing franchisees a little bit of freedom to do things their own ways.
Most important, however, is to be absolutely sure you don’t allow too much freedom. Nothing is more important than your brand. So allow your franchisees the ability to do little things to build their brand locally—but make sure they don’t do anything to damage your brand nationally.
5) Offer support.
At the end of the day, you are not just going to be a business owner. You will be a founder, mentor, and central-office provider of support.
Your franchisees will look to you for support with everything from sourcing to promotions to problem solving. Make sure your business model has teams and technology in place to provide the necessary and ongoing support to help your franchise flourish.
Need a hand? Take our free franchise feasibility assessment to find out if the franchising model is right for you.
Already know you’re ready for franchising (or looking to grow your existing portfolio of franchises?) Contact us to begin your free consultation.
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