UK Franchise Opportunities and Business Opportunities For Sale
UK Franchise Opportunities and Business Opportunities For Sale
Business Partnership
Become a Business Partnership Franchisee and support business owners, while earning fees from business sales and valuations.
Hear from Simon Bartholomew the Franchise Director of Oscar Pet Foods talking about what a franchisor is looking for within franchisees and what questions you should ask a franchisor.
To find out more about the Oscar Pet Foods Franchise click here to visit their profile page.
There are lots of books and websites with lists of the ideal questions to ask a franchisor before you invest your hard earned savings on a new business; I can recommend the 50 questions listed on the bfa web site as a great place to start.
However with 30 years’ experience in and around the franchise industry, including time spent as a franchisee, and now as Franchise Director of Oscar Pet Foods and Chairman of the British Franchise Association, I believe it is far more important for you as a prospective franchisee to have a clear idea of what you are trying to find out before deciding on the exact questions.
Obviously you will want to know some of the basics, such as:
But there are a lot of other areas to research as well.
When you decide which franchise to invest in you will be looking to build a strong working partnership with the franchisor, probably for at least 10 years, so understanding who they are, what their motivations and guiding principles are is important.
It is easy to fall in love with a concept when reading through the prospectus, seeing all the positives and the great future you could have – but this will only come to reality if you are able to work closely with the franchisor and their network, so plan your research carefully and know what you want to discover.
A prospective franchisee that asks the right questions and shows they really want to get behind the sales talk will increase their attractiveness to the franchisor; we want dedicated professional people that clearly understand why they are investing in a business.
Use questions that get to the heart of the business not just ones about how successful franchisees are and what do they have to do. Try and understand the business, the business leaders, the skills required and how the franchisor asses the right people.
Consider these categories for your research:
First, look for experience and expertise in the core products or services offered by the franchisees.
Second, understanding why the business uses the franchise model is one of the best ways of understanding the levels of support you will receive once you have joined a network.
You will want to be able to determine that the franchisor’s profitability comes from the success of its franchisees – NOT from selling franchises – and that they are passionate about their franchisees’ success.
Third, check whether the long-term plans of the business concept are in line with building a strong network for the length of time you plan to be in the business.
How and when was the business formed?
When and why did you start franchising?
Where does the business plan to be in five or 10 years?
It is important that you can determine that your chosen franchisor has a team that can support you in building a successful business.
Does the leadership team include experts in the core business and franchise professionals?
Is there a training team in place?
Are the leadership able to support you in the field once your business is underway?
One of the important advantages of starting a franchise business is that you are in business for yourself but not on your own. You will want to understand how existing franchisees work together and do they have an input to the company’s future strategy.
Do you have an advisory council?
What incentives do you run to encourage friendly rivalry amongst franchisees?
How often do you encourage the network to get together to share good practice?
Remember it is not just about how they will assess you, but also how they ensure the franchisee that buys the neighbouring territory will be a strong business professional.
It is important to know if a franchisor turns down some applicants; they should be able to assess whether you are suitable and give you the right guidance if they think you are not.
Franchisees joining a network have very different backgrounds and experiences, which means that the training needs for each individual new franchisee can be different. Understanding how the franchisor will determine your training needs and styles is an important part of your research; you will also want to determine to what extent the training plan will be personalised to your needs.
You may also want to know if the training involves time with experienced franchisees that have been through the experiences you are about to have.
What training will I receive?
Who will do my training?
What happens if I need further training and what costs would be involved?
Franchise agreements are for a fixed term, but you will want to understand the implications of reaching the end of this term. What are the processes and your rights for signing a new term? How many terms does the franchisor encourage the franchisee to serve and how does the franchisor support the franchisee to renew or to exit the franchise?
What are the terms of renewing for a second term?
How many terms will I be allowed to run the franchise?
What are the costs involved in renewing the franchise?
There will come a time when you will want to exit the franchise business. This may be via a sale or you may want to pass the business onto a member of your family.
Franchisors understand this and should welcome a prospective franchisee wanting to discuss future exit routes. To a franchisor, this will show you have the ability to plan for the future and show them that you are looking to build a long-term business and understand the potential to increase your asset value.
What assistance do you give to help your franchisees sell?
What are the costs involved in selling the franchise when it is time to exit?
How many of your franchisees successfully sell their business?
Remember that the questions you ask are a part of the assessment process and a franchisor will be considering the questions you ask of them and how much thought you have put into them.
By all means look at the lists of example questions you can find but make them your own and have a clear plan of what you are trying to find out.
Any franchise is a big investment in you and your family’s future, you will need to be able to work hard and enjoy the business you start for a number of years before you realise the full potential of the business.
Take time to do the ground work, ask hard questions. An ethical franchisor will not only welcome those questions and the conversations they open up but will think more highly of you for them.
Find out more about the Oscar Pet Foods Franchise here or use our search tool to help you find the right franchise for you!
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