Should I Franchise My Business? Consider These Four Aspects

Do you know what you should consider first while thinking about starting a franchise venture? You should consider whether your business could be franchised or not. If you own a successful business, susceptible to a regional or national level in terms of marketing and promotion, you might be less interested in sharing the control. Even, you would not be willing to risk the personality conflicts that the investors can carry with them. Such situation is ideal for franchising your business. If you really want to determine whether franchising a business is your cup of tea or not, you should review the qualifiers and conditions listed below:

1. Assess yourself as a potential franchisor

In the beginning, you should start by evaluating yourself as a skilled franchisor. You might successfully operate a business that is susceptible to franchising venture, but it does not indicate that you can be a potential franchisor. In this context, it is important to consider that franchising is more than a mere business of selling your products or services. A franchisor needs to take many responsibilities t a time- he should be an educator, trainer, minister, trainers, and psychologists. Even he might be a fee collector who can extract an initial fee for the franchise to start with the business and then collecting royalties for the lifetime.

2. Allow the franchisees operate the business independently

You should always allow your individual franchisees the flexibility to manage their individual franchised business. You should treat them as an independent business owner and your partner. You should make them feel that you trust them. You should carefully set forth the guidelines of this independent contractor relationship.

3. Consider franchising only when you have an existing market

When should you franchise your business? To assure the success, you should consider franchising a business only when you have an established market. When you have an existing market, then you would be able to extend that existing market without much hassle. If your product or service is comparatively new but is in demand, then it is imperative to determine the location where your products or service would be sold well. Additionally, you should also consider the requirements or any special trends of the customers who dwell in that area.

If your business is not comparatively a new business, then you should retain the market research firms to prepare reports on the customer demographics. Even, you can do your own research either at a library reference department or by surfing the Internet. For a clear insight, you should interview the existing franchisors and franchisees for their opinions. You can also consider the demographic information and market research provided by the government agencies. Therefore, before asking the experts, “how to franchise my business”, you should look at the demographics.

4. Implement new systems or improve the existing ones

Before franchising your business, you should look at the existing systems. You should consider whether the systems are ready to run with the franchising setup or not. If you think a modification can do well, then you should improve the existing systems. In case, your business does not have any proper system, you should not think of franchising the business unless you introduce a tested system.

A Final Takeaway

You should be overly conservative in terms of timing and income you are expecting from your franchise outlets. You should determine the combination of your franchise fees, royalties, and sales that can bring you the outcome from the franchisees. Moreover, it is important to pad your expectations of when the revenues will flow back to you instead of making predictions based on your past records.