Where to Obtain the Best Franchise Advice You Will Ever Need

There are hundreds of different franchise opportunities out there. All their web sites look great and promising. Perhaps you have narrowed your choice to 3 or 4 franchises. Yet, you are still unsure as to which one will be best for you. So, how can you obtain the best franchise information you’ll ever get? Easily! From the current franchisees of a system!

This is the most valuable source of information on any franchise system. The existing franchisees are the people who are living the life of a franchisee every day. They can inform you of the reality of what life will be like for you if you decide to join up with a particular franchise.

Of course, you should plan on either calling or visiting quite a few existing franchisees during your investigation. Don’t visit just one or two. After chatting to a few, whatever the prevailing attitude of the existing franchisees on any issue is, it will almost certainly be your attitude on the issue as well. If all of them have the same problem with a particular franchise, you will be able to decide quite easily.

Make sure that you chat to a sufficient number of the existing franchisees to ensure you have a sense of the prevailing attitudes of the group. Even though you will want to find the majority of franchisees to be happy and supportive of the franchisor, it is also important to try to find at least one or two unhappy franchisees during your investigation. Why?

When you find an unhappy franchisee, try to listen to the complaints and determine what makes this franchisee different from the rest you have been visiting with. If you find you identify more with the positive ones and feel the negative franchisee is not at all like you, then you should be fine and will most probably be content with the particular franchise. On the other hand, if you find you are more like the person who is unhappy and negative about the particular franchise, this is most probably not the right franchise for you.

There are a few primary topics you should cover during your conversations with existing franchisees. These include:

1. Training Programs

Ascertain how well the initial training programs and support prepared the franchisees for opening and running their franchise business. Ask for specific examples of strengths and weaknesses in the training program. In addition, ask what surprises the franchisees experienced after training, when it came to running their own franchise unit.

2. Opening Support

Obtain answers to the following questions: How easy did the franchisor make the process of getting the first unit open and operational? Did the franchisor provide any assistance with site selection, lease negotiation, construction and design, securing financing, permits or any other factors unique to getting this franchise business up and operating? In addition, were there any areas that were overlooked or where they should have received support but did not? Lastly, ask them: “If you had to do it over again, what is the most important thing you would do differently?”

3. Ongoing Support

Ask how effective the ongoing support services the franchisor provides in terms of helping franchisees deal with the problems that come up in the operation of their business. This subject explores what the franchisor does to help the business grow and succeed in the long term.

4. Franchise Marketing Programs

Most franchisors gather marketing dollars from every franchisee into a pool that is spent to promote the brand. You need to discern whether the franchisees are happy and supportive of the way this process is handled. This is typically the area where you will find the most complaining in any franchise system you examine. Therefore, make sure you investigate any complaints that the franchisees have in detail, especially if they are common to a number of franchisees. In this way you will understand what you are getting into in this very important element of the business.

5. Franchisor and Franchisee Relations

Determine how the franchisees feel about the franchisor in general. Find out if the franchisor is supportive, caring, focused on their success, responsive, effective, organized and trustworthy. Ask for specific examples from existing franchisees to illustrate any general comments they make to you. Make sure you have a good feeling about the values of the organization and that they are consistent with your own values.

6. Purchasing Power

Find out if the franchisor makes use of the collective buying power of the entire system in order to obtain discounts on supplies and inventory beyond what an independent operator could achieve. This is one of the biggest advantages of joining a well-run franchise system and should counteract much of the upfront fees associated with being a franchisee.

7. Franchise Investment

The UFOC will provide you with a broad amount of information for the investment required in the business. Use the existing franchisee discussions to obtain a reasonable estimate of how much capital you will need for this franchise to be successful in your market or region. Make sure you ask franchisees if they made any unnecessary expensive mistakes opening their unit that they would not repeat on the next one.

8. Earnings

It is critical that you also have a strong sense of just where the average franchise earns. Obtain answers to the following questions: How much money does the typical unit make, given a particular length of time in business? How soon does a typical franchise unit start making money after opening? If you are not able to determine satisfactory answers during your research and conversations with existing franchisees, do not settle! Inform the franchisor of the specific problems you have and that you cannot proceed unless you have the necessary answers and can confirm them with actual existing franchisees.

It is usually a good idea to bring up the subject of earnings as the last point in your conversations with existing franchisees. Most people are reluctant to discuss their income with strangers. You might find, however, that the franchisees are more willing to cover this subject after you have spent some time visiting with them and built up some rapport. Remember, they could think you’re a competitor trying to get information. They might be willing to disclose any earnings information once you have built up a rapport.

Remember, these existing franchisees were all in your shoes at some point in the past. Be organized in advance in terms of your questions so that you show respect for the franchisees’ time and get the most out of this valuable source of information. Most are willing to take the time to chat to you!

Take advantage of the information franchisees can provide. It might make or break your decision to purchase a specific franchise opportunity. Of course, this will make the choosing part a lot easier.

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