10 "what not to do's" when franchising your business

Article by Nick Williams

Ashtons Franchise Consulting

Do you ever get tired of those self-help books that tell you so righteously everything the author ever did, and that you should do, in order to be like them?

I used to like the very direct information that you were given as a small child, such as, “don’t run in the road because if you do, you’ll get knocked over and die!” So much more effective than “when crossing the road, look right, look left, look right again!”

So, this is a short article of a top 10 “what not to do’s” aimed at treating people who want to franchise like adults!

1. Start if you can’t finish! In other words make sure you are financially capable of seeing the journey through, to whatever level you aim at. 

2. Try to franchise an idea or a concept that you have not yet worked out and traded. The franchisee is looking for proven experience from you.

3. Try to rescue an ailing business by franchising it out. People will see through you.

4. Skimp on legal the legal advice. You wouldn’t drive a car that had potentially unreliable brakes, would you?

5. Send franchisees out with a bare minimum of training and expect awesome results.  

6. Expect new franchisees to work without a Bible. In other words, make sure you have a logical and readable manual which you can use as part of the training.

7. Set the franchise up and think “job done”, no need to keep working on the model and the customer offer. Think again.

8. Treat franchisees as employees. They are partners.

9. Overlook the value of great communication.

10. Think you know it all or can get by without help. Spend wisely on professional support, but not excessively nor sparingly.