When thinking of expanding your business, franchising is one of the viable options. It involves letting investors, known as franchisees, pay you to use your business model, trademarks, and concepts. On the other hand, you, the franchisor-offer, support in the form of training, professional assistance, and advertising. For your business to prosper, you need to cushion your already established business against potential damage. Consider the following tips while in the process:
Protect Your Brand
Before you franchise your business, you have to build your brand, make it recognizable, and build its reputation. As a franchisor, your brand is what keeps you in business. It is a representation of your attitude, beliefs, and culture toward your clients. When you onboard franchisees, you allow them to represent your already established brand, which is a high risk.
Ensure that you issue clear guidelines so that service delivery is uniform among all outlets. Communication should also be transparent so that service delivery is consistent. To further protect your brand, make it clear that no one is allowed to use your brand image and assets without approval. Be vigilant in monitoring the outlets both online and offline to catch any misuse of your brand assets on time.
Consider Location
Also related to your brand, not every place might be right for your business. Before allowing individuals to set shop, find out the extent of brand recognition within their area. When starting, restrict yourself close home where your business is well known. The locations, however, should be distant enough not to affect sales of individual establishments. Other than making more business sense, proximity will also make it easy to manage business logistics. Once your brand grows enough and there is increased brand loyalty, you can spread your wings further.
Scrutinize the Vendors
When you are offering a franchising opportunity, it is likely that you won’t even have to go looking for investors; they will come looking for you. Other than considering whether they have the necessary capital, go beyond the money aspect and find out if the potential franchisees have a background in business and if they would be a match with yours. During the interviewing process, be thorough so that you can churn out the deal breakers.
Network
Linking with like-minded people is necessary for business. Find someone who is already using this business model to guide you. You can also venture online and get your business listed on relevant industry websites so that potential franchisees can find you. Attending events such as expos, workshops, and conferences gives you exposure and increases the visibility of your business.
Support Your Franchisees
For your business to keep growing, franchisees will require support. This might involve visiting their outlets to establish what challenges they are facing and offering appropriate solutions. Establish a direct means of communication, train them regularly, offer them reading materials, and celebrate their milestones so that they can feel motivated.
Franchising your business requires that you identify the right investors to represent your brand. You, therefore, have to be thorough when choosing your franchisees. The last thing that you want is for someone to water down your efforts and harm your brand. Train them appropriately, conduct regular visits, and be there to offer support when they need it for your business to grow.
