Considering Franchising an Existing Business?
Franchising may just be the most dynamic method of expanding a business in the twenty-first century. Yet not all of those choose to pursue this strategy will find it to be a "road to riches." Many companies have tried to franchise--only to fail in the attempt.
When deciding whether or to franchise your business, the iFranchise Group believes business owners must first determine if franchising is even a legitimate option for their business. With that in mind, the iFranchise Group has developed 12 criteria you can use to test the franchisability of your business. While not a definitive solution, applying this test to your business will at least allow you to know where you stand and perhaps provide you with some insight as to how your business must be improved before you can begin offering franchises.
Business owners should also gain a thorough understanding of what's involved in franchising in terms of resources, costs and personnel. While your business may be ready to franchise, there may be financial, operational or resource barriers that need to be overcome you can proceed with this strategy.
Finally, assuming you have a franchisable business and the resources necessary to succeed, your next step should be to determine whether franchising is the best strategy based on your personal goals and objectives: Just because a business can be franchised doesn't mean it should be franchised. To determine this, you'll need to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each of your alternative strategies vs. the advantages of franchising.
Each strategy should then be evaluated based on your goals, objectives, resources and tolerance for risk. To best analyze these alternatives, we suggest you
order our free videotape on "How to Franchise a Business." This tape will provide you with the framework for analysis that will allow you to understand whether franchising is the best strategy for reaching your business goals.
Give Your Current Franchise a Tuneup!
Because of our focus on long-term relationships, the iFranchise Group has developed a number of services that can help established franchisors prosper.
The vast majority of our consultations with franchisors are customized to meet the very specific needs of each client. One of our most relevant services focuses on the diagnostic side. Specifically designed for franchisors who are looking to solve a problem or improve effectiveness, the franchise audit process provides them with the ability to pinpoint those areas in which rapid improvement can be achieved--and will offer recommendations as to how to achieve that improvement.
One ready example of this is in the area of franchise sales. When a franchisor is selling too slowly, it could be for any number of reasons:
- An ineffective franchise marketing message
- Inadequate marketing budget
- Targeting the wrong franchise prospects
- Inappropriate media mix
- Failure to modify marketing efforts to properly reflect historic results
- Poor timing of the marketing campaign
- Ineffective marketing materials
- Lack of initial follow-up
- Poor sales skills
- Improperly focused sales efforts
- Poorly executed "Discovery Day"
And the list goes on. Without knowing where the specific problem(s) lie, you can either take your ""best guess"" as to what is broken or try to fix everything at once. The franchise audit allows franchisors to focus on those specifics that will most affect sales. By comparing your practices to the best practices within the franchising industry, the franchise audit can readily identify where to focus your improvement efforts.
Perhaps the single most important success factor for the aggressive growth franchisor is having the right personnel. Through our relationship with Franchise Recruiters, we can help you recruit top-level personnel. Having the right person in the right job can ultimately mean the difference between success and failure.
Startup franchisors often find themselves in the middle of a perplexing dilemma: They don't have enough work (or adequate cash flow) to justify hiring a full-time staff member, yet they have no one on staff with the time and/or expertise to provide vital services. In these instances, outsourcing services provided by the iFranchise Group can be the answer.
Outsourcing services are available in the areas of:
- Operations management and quality control
- Ad placement and media management
- Ad fund management
- Centralized print fulfillment
- Franchise prospect qualification
- Franchise sales management (coaching)
For some franchise companies, speed of growth is the problem, not because they're growing too slowly, but because they're growing too fast! An aggressive sales force can outstrip a company's ability to properly train and support its franchisees. While this may sound like a good problem to have, this problem can lead to a fatal downward spiral for the startup franchisor. Many franchisors have found that one of the keys to enhancing their support is automating their training and support process. Again, the iFranchise Group can help.
Of course, many of the services we provide to startup franchisors may also be appropriate for established franchisors who need to update, revise or create these materials. Some of the services include:
- Development or redesign of brochures, e-brochures, Web pages and logos
- Updating operations manuals
- Developing training program curricula, PowerPoint presentations, training aids and tests
- Creating interior branding programs and other consumer marketing assistance
- Interior and exterior design
Contact us today to see how we can customize a program to fit your needs.
Convert Your Dealer/Distributor Network to a Franchise Channel
As specialists in strategic planning, the iFranchise Group understands the issues manufacturers face when deciding whether the addition of a franchise channel (or the conversion of a dealer/distributor channel to franchising) is appropriate.
One of the biggest issues that concern manufacturers who are considering franchising is that of "channel conflict." Clearly, franchising isn't something that can be entered into lightly, especially when existing channels are successfully providing market penetration.
At the same time, manufacturers have found that franchising can provide two important elements that dealer channels may lack: increased control of unit operations (and the brand association) and an ability to generate fees for the services that many dealer organizations are forced to give away. Moreover, the increased control provided by franchising can often lead to improved unit performance (and the associated improvement in sales).
Having completed an exhaustive analysis of this subject for a Fortune 500 manufacturer earlier this year and having worked on numerous similar projects spanning the past decade, the iFranchise Group understands the issues that must be addressed. While it's inappropriate to publish the results of these engagements, we're happy to discuss the general parameters that manufacturers should examine in making these decisions.
During the course of their careers, members of the iFranchise Group have developed extensive expertise in the area of dealer conversion, as well as a proprietary process for facilitating this type of change. The iFranchise Change Facilitation Process has a demonstrated track record of success at converting dealers and distributors to franchises or other relationships offering higher levels of control. Contact us today so we can determine if this is the right strategy for you.