Getting Ready to Franchise My Business

Items to work on and put in process as you move towards Franchising.

This list of items are elements of your business or operational model you may choose to work on/with in order to position your business and brand for franchise growth.  They do not replace the need for franchise development, but supplement the work and will assist in streamlining the process of taking the organization from where it is today to the franchise marketplace. 

These are items and topics which cover elements involved in organizing, structuring and planning for franchise growth.

Build your brand - good franchise systems have a well presented brand that franchisees can connect to.

• If you haven’t already, build your web presence.
• Social Media – Be on the major sites
• Linkedin - You should have a company page on the largest business networking platform.
• Facebook - Although it seems silly, Facebook has become a requirement for businesses to be seen as credible, build a professional Facebook page that represents your brand and vision.
• Twitter - This requires upkeep, but a company Twitter page will assist you as you franchise your business.
• Email - Have email addresses with your URL, no more free email accounts.  Have a professional signature in place with a consistent messgage for communicating with potential franchisees.

Have collateral material in place that you use to market to your customer.  A Franchisee will be concerned if you can't show them how they will be generating business for their new franchise location.

• Electronic copies- be ready to send brochures to prosective franchisees who would like to see your collateral materials and marketing process.

• Brochure, flier, business cards, etc.
• Document your call script – what do you say to customers to get them to buy?
• Document your marketing process - how you attract, find and close new business, this will be extremely important to a new prospective franchisee.

             i.      Where do you generate leads?

             ii.      How do you create a value proposition – document this.

             iii.      How do you close business and get new customers?

1. Know how you manage your “back-end”
2. Delivery of services – don’t necessarily need to have everything down on paper, but know how you deliver your product or services to the customer (bake the bread, make the product or clean the carpets, etc)
3. How do you manage cash flow?  Have a decent understanding how you would coach someone how to manage the finances.
4. Where do you buy products and inventory?
5. Understand where you would direct someone to purchase the needed supplies and inventory.

i.      Equipment

ii.      Machinery

iii.      Inventory items

1. Vendor lists and contacts
2. Get to know your training process
3. How and what would you cover when training a new franchisee?

i.      Curriculum?

ii.      Schedule?

iii.      Who does what?

For more information on how to franchise your business, Contact Us:  800-610-0292

FMS Franchise Canada

FMS is a team of expert franchise consulting professionals based in Canada that provides solutions for franchise development, franchise consultation, and expansion of businesses globally.