2. What made you choose the (INSERT NAME) franchise?

3. What is your current monthly revenue?

4. How long did it take you to make a profit or when are you forecasted to?

5. What was your forecasted break even point and what is it in reality?

6. Are you paying a monthly management fee or commission? If so How much?

7. Did the training course meet or exceed your expectations? 

8. Was there anything you thought was missing from the training?

9. Did you feel that the training course provided you with tools that were not in the public domain - i.e standard  books e.t.c    

10. Did you have the legal contract checked out? If so what were the comments?    

11. Did you have any changes to the contract made?   

12. Did you pay the full list price for your licence and training? 

13. How do you feel about the franchise business?

14. How is your relationship with the management staff at the franchise?

15. Are you aware of any disputes within the franchise? If so can you give details.

16. Are you satisfied with the marketing the franchisor provides?

17. Have you ever gained clients/customers as a result of the franchisors marketing efforts?

18. Knowing what you know now, would you buy the franchise again?

 Did you ever hear of the franchise you are considering before you investigated franchises?

 Has anyone you know ever heard of them?

 Have any of your potential clients/customers ever heard of them? A good bit of due diligence around this one question alone can prove invaluable.

 Have any industry commentators i.e trade press, specialists, forums e.t.c ever heard of them?

 For the type of business you are going to be in is a national brand really needed?

 If a national brand is beneficial is there any way of putting a financial value to it? How much are you prepared to pay someone just to access the brand name.

 What plans does the franchisor have to develop and grow the brand?

 What does the brand mean and stand for? Any good well developed brand will convey planned images, associations and meaning to a customer. Ask the franchisor what their brand stands for and judge their response. If they can’t tell you then is it worth paying a premium for?

If you would like a copy of the book for FREE prior to launch then have a look at the site   Franchise Book

It would be welcome to get some feedback, input and possibly some testimonials.

While doing my research i came across a site that is refreshinglt different. http://www.bluemaumau.org/  provides the usual adverts for franchises but has a fantastic amount of relevant content and information. It has a mix of contributers from franchisors, franchisees and franchise consultants. If you are looking to buy a franchise i would suggest you also have a trawl through this information site and their franchise forum.

Originally published in the Sloane Management review in 1998 the article is one of the more common sense pieces of writing covering the franchise industry.

They identified a number of important franchise success factors that should be used to assess the likely success of a franchise system. They are:

• Rapid growth (or planned rapid growth) of the franchise means that they can begin to reach a level to compete with existing players in the marketplace.

• Local management support of the franchise aids rapid growth

• Demonstrable trustworthiness and high quality systems

• A recognised successful history before franchising. This resulted in a recognised ‘brand name’ that could not be easily copied. Systems, marketing, premises e.t.c could be easily copied by competitors – a brand could not
• Economies of scale i.e cheaper costs because they are larger, in marketing. This was achieved through being a bigger brand.
• Rapid growth of the franchise allowed the brand name to develop quickly and stop competitors from copying or replicating the business idea.
• Using local franchisees to use their local knowledge to determine local business decisions and operate with fewer ‘local field operations’. This means the franchise resources can be concentrated on branding, marketing and growth. The entrepreneurial ‘drive’ of the franchise owner is concentrated on building the business. The opposite of this is by keeping close control on local franchisees by appointing Master Franchisees. This was shown to develop ‘passive ownership’ which undermines the entrepreneurial incentives of outlet ownership. The said “therefore growing quickly, through master franchising, increases the probability of system failure”

• Franchisees should seek franchisors that are expanding rapidly.
• Franchisees should not seek a franchise that promises a lot of field support
• A lean operation at headquarters is a success predictor
• Franchisees should seek franchisors with strong brands or at least a plan as to how they will develop a strong brand
• Franchisees should be a member of a regulatory body
• Franchisees should be wary of franchises that offer master franchising. Whilst this speeds growth it also increases the likelihood of failure.

If you do a search on google on ‘franchise’ or ‘franchise information’ then you are likely to be presented with thousands of pages of franchise advertisers, franchise consultants, franchise marketplace websites and possible a franchise association.

I have been seriously researching the franchise industry for a number of years now and the number of good information sources I have found are few and far between. There are a number of good books on franchising on amazon and I strongly suggest that if you are seriously examining buying a franchise then you read as many as you can. You can never have enough information.

I have just come off the back of two days solid of research on google on franchises and I have yet to find any information sites that are not in some way ‘sponsored’ or funded by franchises or consultants.

Why is this?    Do you know any?

The franchise world is big business and the opportunities to get impartial, informative advice and information about franchises are few and far between.

If you are considering buying a franchise then the biggest piece of advice I can offer is to consider the motivation of any article, web site and ‘guru’ that you come across. Do your due diligence and ask what their motivation is for providing that information.

To begin that process, let me give my honest answer:

I am writing a blog to give impartial advice from some one who has been a franchisee. I have seen the good and the bad of the franchise industry and have lost a lot of money.

I have spent the last three years, and more, fully researching the franchise industry and have been struck by the lack of impartial advice and information. I have a small vested interest as I am writing a manual on my experiences and how you can avoid them and will be launching it soon. Apart from that, however, I have no other interest in providing you information other than making sure you make the right decision for the rest of your future.

To your future business success

http://www.businessfranchiseinformation.com/

One of the common myths about franchises is that they are a ‘proven business model’ and therefore have statistically higher succes rates.

After doing considerable research I would tend to disagree. There are many reasons why this is a myth and some of the main ones are:

• Most franchise businesses operate under a seperate legal entity i.e corporation, sole trader and trade as the franchise. If there is a failure then it is the legal entity that closes down. This just gets recorded, if at all, as a standard business failure.

• Unsuccesful franchises are generally financially tied into the contract for the term of the agreement i.e 5 years. If they wish to leave prior to that then they can be liable for the full fees they would have paid over the franchise terms. Many franchisees are happy to sign non disclosure agreements with the Franchise to just be released from their ongoing commitments and walk away.

•  Mnay franchisees just get to the stage where they ‘close the doors’ and walk away and want no more part of it.

What I really want to know is what statistical evidence is there to prove that franchises have a higher success rate?  In an industry that is strongly focused on threatening lawsuits for saying anything negative about a franchise who would ever get to know the truth?

www.businessfranchiseinformation.com

One of the big things I think makes anyone consider a franchise is the promise of a better future. Franchising is seen as a holy grail, a better life and a way to control what, how, and when you do things. It is a shortcut to the capitalist dream of owning your own business and being  a successful business man.

I hate to say it but it doesn’t  always work like that.

If you don’t enjoy late nights, paperwork and socialising with strange people in your job then why is it going to be any different in your own business? Ok, You can argue that the money is going your way, but is that really enough to make you happy, eager and excited to get to the office/shop/desk/van in the morning?

What really counts is……..PASSION.

I have read hundreds of books on business, sales and biographies of highly successful people and the one thing that is a common thread between all of them is passion. They may have different points of view on marketing, competition, business ethics, but all of them have passion.

What are you passionate about?                            Do you know?

Lets take e a step back here. I can already here you saying -

 ”Well what’s this got to do with choosing a franchise?”

Well - it’s nearly everything!!

I have spoken to many people looking for Franchises and one minute they are considering a fast food business, the next a lawn cutting service, the next an oven cleaning business and everything in between. The product or service being supplied is not really that important to some people.

If you buy a Franchise then you are investing a considerable amount of money. If all you can see at the end of the tunnel is a monetary return then your chances of success may not be as high as you think. If you have no passion for what you are offering then it will shine through in every element of your business. Not only that, when times get tough and your only motivator is the cash at the end of the tunnel than sometimes that just won’t cut it.

If you can’t find something you have or can get passionate about — Save you money!!

www.businessfranchiseinformation.com

Sometimes this is true but in many cases this just perpetuates an industry myth.

Did you realise that it is possible to get a franchise up and running without ever really proving any success of the model?

Even under the guidance of many of the stringent Franchise regulatory bodies it is possible to launch a Franchise and be accredited after a limited ‘pilot test’. That pilot test can be as little as a few short months. There are very few checks on the level of success of the pilot or to assess if the ’system’ is replicable. It doesn’t even need to be profitable.

If you are considering a Franchise then don’t just assume that the model works. Question everything!!

www.businessfranchiseinformation.com

? Do you understand franchising and what is concerned?

? Are you prepared to work long hours, possibly under stress to make your business work?

? Are you choosing a franchise to spend more time with the family and kids? If so what would your life be like if you ended up working longer hours than you did before?

? Does the idea of the business (the product/service) excite you enough to get you out of bed in the darkest moments?

? Do you think you can work under the rules and procedures of the Franchisor and may not have any chance to change/influence them?

? Do you mix well with people? Do you enjoy it?

? Can you accept the discipline of a franchise system?

? What do I want to achieve in Life?

? Can the Franchise honestly provide this??

Business

? Do you have the relevant skills necessary to run a business? If not does the franchisor offer them?

? If you don’t have the skills, what makes you think the franchisor can teach you them in a week or two’s worth of training?

Financial

? Do you have the money to invest in the Franchise?

? If not, where are you going to get it?

? If borrowing money is it secured or unsecured?

? Have you determined your ‘survival income’ - that is the level of money you will need to live on each month?. If you have, just how many months can you survive before you have to take money from the business?

? Can you afford to lose the money you invest?

 Brian Tracy once said that someone who is prepared to lose a little usually ends up losing a lot!