Small Business Articles
How To Find The Right Small Business Franchise For You
June 04, 2008
Visiting a franchising website, in some ways, is like going to Baskin Robbins. As you wander around, looking at all the options, it's not hard to get lost in all the choices between flavors, toppings, and cone styles that all sound incredible. Minutes of fruitless thought go by, and in the end-if you're anything like me-you just blurt out the first ice-cream flavor that comes to your mind and spend the rest of your cone-licking time wondering how good the other flavors would have been, which is right about where the analogy fails. The last thing you want to do when purchasing a franchise is to make an impetuously wrong decision and have to spend every working day wondering what another small business would have tasted like.
Undoubtedly, there have been many new businessmen who have leapt into a franchise too quickly, only to find that it wasn't one well suited for them. And even if somehow you've got the money to make that kind of mistake not financially devastating, it's still worth doing your homework to avoid it. Among the ways to protect yourself from such a costly error in judgment, one of the best is to simply talk with franchisees who have gone before you and get a firsthand account of what business with the franchisor you're thinking about is really like.
There are two ways to go about simply getting in touch with franchisees-and the first will already tell you a lot about the franchisor. (1) Simply ask the franchisor to give you contact info for the already established franchises. If he refuses to give you a list, that's a very bad sign. If he gives you a partial list-say, one only comprised of his best stores-it's a slightly better signal, but still something to be a little concerned about. (2) Hit the web and track down franchise locations for yourself. Even if the franchisor did give you a list of contacts, this is a good thing to do because as important as speaking with successful franchisees is (which is who the franchisor will recommend to you), it's just as valuable to speak with franchisees who aren't really shining stars; both will be able to tell you a lot about the real experience of working with the franchisor.
Once you've made contact with some franchisees, get yourself prepped and ready for some good, old-fashioned interviewing, because you're going to want to milk these guys for all the information they're worth. Sit down in advance with a pen and paper so that you can write out some franchise interview questions that need to be answered before you'll know whether or not this small business franchise opportunity is for you.
Here are some potential candidates for good inquiries:
· How was the franchisor's initial training? Did it adequately equip your for business?
· As features of the franchise were changed, were you trained accordingly?
· Is your franchisor active in pursuing you and helping you succeed?
· What notions of the nature of this franchise did you come in with? Were they accurate?
· What have you learned in your time with this franchise?
· Have you come across problems or issues that the franchisor has been unable or unwilling to help you with? What happened?
· Has there been any turbulence between you and the franchisor?
· What advice would you give me in searching for the right franchise?
And the list could probably go on forever. Certainly a factor in determining what questions to ask is your personality. There are things about every individual business owner that require-or at least work best under-certain franchise conditions and practices, so it's important to know yourself, your strengths, and your weaknesses well enough to ask the kinds of questions that will impact your decision in ways that may not impact someone else's.
Once your questions are all in order, grab your tape- or digital-recorder, a pen, some paper, and head out to talk to those franchisees. With enough tenacity and a few tries with different franchises, you should be able to determine with a fair degree of success what kind of small business is right for you. And with that knowledge, you can peacefully and happily purchase the right flavor the first time and never have to look back at the ice cream case of franchise opportunities again
Visiting a franchising website, in some ways, is like going to Baskin Robbins. As you wander around, looking at all the options, it's not hard to get lost in all the choices between flavors, toppings, and cone styles that all sound incredible. Minutes of fruitless thought go by, and in the end-if you're anything like me-you just blurt out the first ice-cream flavor that comes to your mind and spend the rest of your cone-licking time wondering how good the other flavors would have been, which is right about where the analogy fails. The last thing you want to do when purchasing a franchise is to make an impetuously wrong decision and have to spend every working day wondering what another small business would have tasted like.
Undoubtedly, there have been many new businessmen who have leapt into a franchise too quickly, only to find that it wasn't one well suited for them. And even if somehow you've got the money to make that kind of mistake not financially devastating, it's still worth doing your homework to avoid it. Among the ways to protect yourself from such a costly error in judgment, one of the best is to simply talk with franchisees who have gone before you and get a firsthand account of what business with the franchisor you're thinking about is really like.
There are two ways to go about simply getting in touch with franchisees-and the first will already tell you a lot about the franchisor. (1) Simply ask the franchisor to give you contact info for the already established franchises. If he refuses to give you a list, that's a very bad sign. If he gives you a partial list-say, one only comprised of his best stores-it's a slightly better signal, but still something to be a little concerned about. (2) Hit the web and track down franchise locations for yourself. Even if the franchisor did give you a list of contacts, this is a good thing to do because as important as speaking with successful franchisees is (which is who the franchisor will recommend to you), it's just as valuable to speak with franchisees who aren't really shining stars; both will be able to tell you a lot about the real experience of working with the franchisor.
Once you've made contact with some franchisees, get yourself prepped and ready for some good, old-fashioned interviewing, because you're going to want to milk these guys for all the information they're worth. Sit down in advance with a pen and paper so that you can write out some franchise interview questions that need to be answered before you'll know whether or not this small business franchise opportunity is for you.
Here are some potential candidates for good inquiries:
· How was the franchisor's initial training? Did it adequately equip your for business?
· As features of the franchise were changed, were you trained accordingly?
· Is your franchisor active in pursuing you and helping you succeed?
· What notions of the nature of this franchise did you come in with? Were they accurate?
· What have you learned in your time with this franchise?
· Have you come across problems or issues that the franchisor has been unable or unwilling to help you with? What happened?
· Has there been any turbulence between you and the franchisor?
· What advice would you give me in searching for the right franchise?
And the list could probably go on forever. Certainly a factor in determining what questions to ask is your personality. There are things about every individual business owner that require-or at least work best under-certain franchise conditions and practices, so it's important to know yourself, your strengths, and your weaknesses well enough to ask the kinds of questions that will impact your decision in ways that may not impact someone else's.
Once your questions are all in order, grab your tape- or digital-recorder, a pen, some paper, and head out to talk to those franchisees. With enough tenacity and a few tries with different franchises, you should be able to determine with a fair degree of success what kind of small business is right for you. And with that knowledge, you can peacefully and happily purchase the right flavor the first time and never have to look back at the ice cream case of franchise opportunities again
