5 Life Lessons about Franchising

Investing into a franchise is not a minor or light decision, it often requires a large about of investment other than financially to be a success, including your time and resources.

You must make sure when making this decision that you fully understand what a franchise is and what franchise works best for you.

A great tip for researching a franchise is to contact other franchisees that have already launched their businesses and getting feedback on what their experience has been. It is best to contact those who are deemed successful, those who aren’t and those who fall somewhere in between to collect a balanced collection of opinions. It may also be an idea to contact franchise owners who decided to leave the brand and determine why that choice was made to see if they had any complaints and to see if these are issues that you need addressed before investing further into the brand.

5 Things to Find Out About the Franchise

The Support - or lack of?

It’s easy for the brand to talk about support, but what is harder to find out just how much is actually provided. There may be a difference between the information provided and the reality. Asking other franchisees will provide you the insight you need to decide whether the headache and the hard work may be worth it. The benefit of investing into a franchise means that you do not have to build a business from scratch, however you may feel very differently if you find yourself unsupported by the brand. Make sure to ask the questions that value your interests.

2) Marketing - Friend or Foe?

Marketing is often done via the brand on all-inclusive or national chains which are often to the benefit of the entire chain of franchises, however if the training leaves something to be desired or the options are not made equally available to all the businesses under the franchise under the umbrella it may cause more hassle than it is worth. If the other franchisees felt unprepared to run the promotion then it may show that the training program was not at a standard you would expect in the run up to a promotion.

3) Financial Investment

Initially you will provided an idea of the kind of investment expected by the brand however, this may fall short of covering all the issues that may arise whilst trying to get the business off the ground. If you ask other franchisees about how much was actually expected to run the business on top of the initial quote you are more likely to understand the entire scope of financial needs and expectations that you may be required to meet.

4) Time Investment

This is an important question that most investors do not give enough thought to when looking into franchising. Ask other franchisees about the amount of time they were expected to invest into creating their business and the actual amount of time that it took. Ask them whether they believe that this is a manageable expectation to meet.

5) Profit Problems

Do not be nervous about the money question, you are often provided an estimate by the brand about the amount of profit you can expect to make in a set amount of time, however this may not provide the whole story. Income information can be sensitive, make sure that this is treated with the professional perspective required to make an educated choice.

Do not feel guilty for researching the brand you want to invest in. This is the information you need to know if you are willing to make a full informed choice in regards to your business potential.