Finding the Best Franchise

Over my 35 years in the franchising business, I’ve been asked which franchise is the best to buy. This is a loaded question in the franchise business. My response is “it depends.”, however, one of the best ways to evaluate their franchise opportunity is by their franchise support.

People looking for a new business look to a franchise so they are not on their own. Can your perspective or current franchisor say that they have support on a regular basis?

Unfortunately, in this day and age, many franchisors cut the support function in their business. This is the LAST place to “trim the fat” in a franchise organization.

What support do you need? Here is a list of bare minimums. We’ll talk about each of them in a different blog.

1. Operations

1. Marketing

1. General Questions

1. In case of emergency

Operations:

What is the best way to run your new franchise? The franchisor should be coaching you on a REGULAR basis. You are buying a franchise so the franchisor can show you how to run your business and help make you successful. That is why the business is franchised so you can duplicate the franchise model and realize the success the franchisor portrays in their FDD.

This may sound basic; however, you should know your operations support person, see them at least on a monthly basis, know their phone number and their email address. More importantly, they need to be responsive and accountable to the franchisor and to you, the franchisee.

You should be on a call with them on a weekly basis as well as working with your fellow franchisees. Talk about what is working in your business and talk about your challenges.

Let's talk about a few things that you can discuss with your operations person. The first of which is how to maximize efficiencies in your new business so you can maximize profitability. This can be simply observed by your operations person to provide you with feedback. Secondly, work with them on your profit and loss statement. Your operations person should be an expert in looking at your business to help you maximize efficiencies and your profit and loss statement to identify key areas to maximize your profitability in your new franchise.

It is in your best interest to be profitable so you can develop and grow your business. It is also in the franchisors best interest to help you be profitable so they can be more profitable. The bottom line is, franchisors make money off of royalties. The higher your royalties, the higher their profitability.

When you are in your due diligence period looking for a new franchise, be sure to ask your perspective franchisor specifics regarding their operations support. When you talk to current franchisees, ask about how they are supported by their operations team. Ask specific questions on the different topics I've listed above so you can get real-time information and unbiased feedback.

Ask for specifics. Ask how the franchisees work together to help each other and how does the operations team facilitate this?

In my next blog, I'll talk about what you should look for in marketing support.