Franchise Basics

Franchising your business is not easy. Even with a checklist of franchise basics to keep you on track, it is a long, drawn-out process. It also involves a lot of research, preparatory work and requires tremendous courage and resources to make radical changes to the business that you have already poured your heart and soul into. However, if you do it right, the effort will eventually pay off. Once the franchise system is well-established and your franchisees are raking in revenues, you will be able to enjoy relative financial security. Furthermore, you will be able to take pride in hearing the name of your business on the lips of hundreds upon thousands of new customers regionally or nationwide.

 

Defining Franchise Basics

 

To get to a situation where you can lay back and bask in your franchise success, you must ensure that you persevere through all the necessary work and that you accomplish it well. Everything you decide at the beginning of the franchising process will have implications for the rest of your career as a franchisor. Thus, you must get certain decisions right at the beginning. Some of these decisions are pretty obvious, even to somebody who is not a specialist in franchising. Thus, it makes sense to call them franchise basics.

Perhaps the most important of franchise basics is making sure that you do your franchising ‘homework’ then review it multiple times as necessary. You must tread extra-carefully, making sure to research everything, and to countercheck the solutions you are given. Seek a variety of informed opinions about issues that you are not 100% certain about before agreeing to anything legally binding.

Another basic step in the franchising process is to make sure that you come across as a credible franchisor. The franchise package that you give your potential franchisees must contain every single relevant document. You should have thought out all the likely eventualities, and even the unlikely ones in the drafting of your contract and other documents. This includes making sure you have an exit plan. If a particular franchisee proves to be a terrible match for your franchise company, you should have the option of letting go of him or her through a set of legal steps that you have both previously agreed to. Another important point on the list of franchise basics involves coming up with a suitable brand for your franchise, and subsequently protecting it from being exploited by others.