Benefits of Franchising Your Business

The benefits of franchising your business can be extensive, but when it comes down to it, the key benefit is a transition from operational focus to strategic.

As an entrepreneur continues to grow their business, managing all aspects of the day-to-day business effectively quickly becomes a challenge.  Multiple locations of any enterprise involve many moving parts, all of which need to be monitored and maintained in order to sufficiently and successfully exercise a typical day of business. 

Elements such as staffing, customer service, sales and brand continuity all become more and more difficult as   Growth can lead to unsustainability if not acted on properly.  Business owners frequently wish for expansion but fear their ability to control each operational process will become muddled or lost altogether. 

And, in most cases, they are probably right.  Many times, business owners who grow through company-owned and managed locations run into obstacles that hinder growth as the business expands beyond what they can manage directly.   

It is at this crossroad in a business’ growth that franchising becomes a viable expansion option.  Franchising your business allows you to multiply a brand’s footprint, but with added manpower and capital to scale the growth.  The value of having independent business owners who have money invested and their direct, onsite focus is enormous and the performance of franchise-owned and operated businesses almost always outperforms company-owned locations of the same business model.

Franchising your business can also reflect positively to the business’ image, as the public sees this new business as locally owned and operated and if the franchise owner is the right person they are connected to the community and know how to connect to consumers in the area. 

People are naturally attracted to familiarity, and a process that is consistent regardless of the location in which it is being executed will lead to successful results.  Franchising allows a brand to grow and duplicate at several levels.  At the national or global level, all franchisees and corporate units contribute to a marketing fund that is used to promote the brand and build awareness for the company. 

At the regional level, franchisees work together through regional cooperatives where advertising dollars are spent in a region to build local awareness and leverage economies of scale in advertising and promotion spending.  At the local level, franchisees are required to spend dollars on promoting and advertising the business in their immediate market.  The combination of the advertising platforms maximizes the opportunity for brand development and makes franchising a win-win relationship between franchisor and franchisee.  

Franchising your business allows entrepreneurs to attract other like-minded people with a thirst for owning their own business, but with the desire to have guidance and support along the way. 

Many do not want to endure the time, effort and risks inherent in starting a business from the ground up.  By purchasing and joining a franchise, franchisees are able to reduce stress and increase the chances of success.  Franchising your business will naturally pool resources together – collaboration amongst franchisees leads to sharing of ideas and proper quality checking of each system and process. 

A business owner benefits from having easy access to criticism in an appropriate and relevant manner.

The entrepreneur who is able to make this transition stops focusing on the small items inherent in managing a business and begins to focus on what strategic aspects will help drive the growth of the brand and scale the business.  The funny thing about this transition is that people who are stuck in an operational mindset many times are busier and work harder than those who are strategic-minded. 

Franchising is a big picture initiative where the product becomes the business model itself and with each transaction, the brand grows exponentially. 

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International Franchise Growth: Taking your Franchise Global

You've already grown your company through franchising and now you can’t ignore those organic leads that have found their way to your site asking to open a location in Saudi Arabia.

In general, the sale of an international franchise is about the same process as a domestic franchisee. But the implications that come with international franchise growth are what really means changing your business model as you branch out into other countries.

How do you go about this process without losing control? How do you maintain the integrity of your brand while franchising globally and train, support and manage while integrating new cultures, demographics and countries?

There are a few things to keep in mind when you're looking to franchise internationally. If managed correctly, international franchise growth is an amazing opportunity. In fact, many of the world’s largest brands are growing internationally at a more rapid pace than they are domestic.

Recruiting Global Franchises

How do you start recruiting others to market and sell your brand? How do you get the word out there and create effective campaigns targeting international growth? It all starts with your recruiting plan and defining who you are targeting and where. Make your recruiting appealing to others in the global market, understand what the international franchise community wants, what carries value for them and how best to communicate with these franchise buyers.

Generally speaking, master franchises or master licenses are the preferred candidate for international franchise growth.

Training and Support

Understand that for your franchise to succeed in other nations, you'll have to have an amazing training and support system in place. Much like the telephone game, your message weakens as it is passed down the line and certainly when you change environments with new countries and regions. Build technology into your training and support which will allow for effective virtual support. Get ready for travel and plan on having boots on the street in the franchisee’s markets for some extended time in order to really facilitate successful launches in these countries.

This will help your new franchise owner to be successful in the brand from the moment they start and keep the relationship strong moving forward. Offer a support team dedicated to their start-up and beginning so that they can become a great ambassador for your brand and confirm that the brand is being managed appropriately.

\There are countless success stories of international franchise growth, all of which required amazing training and support programs. Be sure that everyone from the owner down to the customer service representatives has solid training and support throughout.

Maintaining the Brand

It can be difficult when you go across the world to maintain the brand you have set forth in your own market. Be sure that everything that is being used from fliers and advertising to the buildings and location all keeps the brand that you have set forth with the same integrity, images, look, feel and quality that got your domestic business where it is today.

Make sure that any and all products imported or used in the operation of the business are of the standard and quality that people have come to know and expect from your brand. It doesn’t take much to completely diminish the brand you have worked hard to build with poorly executed management of international franchise growth.

Understanding How and Where to Franchise

One way to understand how and where to start sending your global franchise is to work with a company that can help you with the market trends and analyze consumer data to know where your industry is seeing growth. My advice is, don’t look at the developed markets, look to the up-and-coming markets like Qatar, Zambia, Eastern Europe and others where growth is exponential.

Developed markets such as Europe and Canada may be opportunities but certainly wouldn’t present as much upside as areas like these. A good source would be international marketing or business consultants based in those regions to support a good understanding of those markets.

They can assist you in making the right choices on where there's a definite need for your product or service and where you might flourish. You do not want to just randomly send your brand to other locations. You want to be sure that there is a demand for your supply when franchising out. It can be difficult to know the best locations but with the help of a solid franchise company, you can make that right choice easier.

For more information on International Franchise Expansion, contact us:

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