Question: I have a successful business, how do I start franchising?
The franchise system is about maintaining the standards and customer expectation and sharing the successful business model. Franchising the business is unlike having your own branches. Franchisees’ expectations are more than your expectations.
These are checklist or questions you must ask yourself before considering to franchise:
1. How many years you have started the business? Do we have enough amount of customers to start new branches?
A new branch should not share the current customers from the existing branch. A new branch should be able to reach out new customers. A reputation and years of business operations will secure that new branches will work and frachisees will get the same success.
2. Do you own the business? This mean you must have the brand and business registration with the government agency. The rights will help you control franchisees and have the bargaining power. Also it will protect copy rights and pirate products. The rights are calculated in the franchise fee, the more popular and value the brands are.
3. Your business must be profitable before sharing the success platform to others. The business should have the proven business model and be able to show it via profit and loss statements.
4. is your business knowledge transferable or teachable to others? Could you prepare the operation manual? You must provide the operation manual not only for maintain the standards but also for work improvement, increasing sales and lower the operating expenses.
5. your business must have secret sauces or business secret for coping protection. If the business doesn’t have the secret, that business has no value. Franchisees soon will develop their own brands to compete with you.
6. What is your team building plan? It is like manage your own branches. You should plan to have a support team to help and support franchisees.
Above questions are only the basic questions to answer before franchising your business.
The next steps are building strategies, workflow and develop operation manuals. All steps are to expand the franchises, control the standards and improvement.
The last but most important step is recruiting the right franchisees.
Writer: Mr. Sethaphong Phadungpisuth, CFE
MD Gnosis Company Limited
Any inquiries please call 089 936 1775 or LINE ID : gnosisadvisory
