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Member You - Franchise Opportunity - 5 Questions To Ask About The Franchise
Private investigator jobs are forecast to outpace the growth of all jobs in The United States for at least the next five years. Private investigation is a great small business opportunity. Not only are more people seeking to enter that line of work but it also provides a level of excitement that a regular corporate job cannot ever hope to match. Perhaps much of that is thanks to Magnum P.I.?The type of person that would be attracted to a private investigator job is someone that enjoys and seeks out a certain level of danger. Private investigators do have to deal with certain threats as that is the nature of their job. If your day-to-day work involves things such as investigating and spying on cheating spouses or white-collar criminals, danger is bound to happen.Using state-of-the-art technology such as forensic accounting, digital cameras, GPS tracking systems, and infra-red night vision private investigators routinely handle cases such as: Divorce Infidelity Background checks Identity theft Insurance fraud (Workman’s comp) Personal injury Stalkers If you enjoy bu
A second factor is that a normal phenomenon in Franchising is that each Franchise that is added to the system, and each new customer that is added to the system, and each new employee that is added to the system, will increase the value of the brand. Volume carries clout in price negotiation. Messages are carried by more lips. More signs, more transactions, more bank deposits, more customers, more vendors – it all translates to increased brand recognition. Increased brand recognition should translate to more business for each Franchise.
In addition, growth strategies will generally drive up the Franchise Fee. That means that if you pay $2 as a Franchise Fee, and growth strategies drive the Franchise Fee up to $5, then that becomes the base value for your Franchise because the market will pay that price. That’s a nice return on investment if it’s achieved over a reasonable timeframe, which of course is driven by the Franchisor’s growth strategies.
O.K., so there are lots of good reasons that growth is important as opposed to shrinkage or stagnation. However, you must also feel comfortable that the strategy is sensible. That’s why you need to ask the questions, and you should expect well thought out answers that makes sense to you.
What Exit Strategies Are Available?
There are many factors that should come into your analysis before becoming a Franchisee. The folly often lies in not considering thi
Those whose business it is to do PR have invested greatly in their craft. Those who buy PR services need them to convey to their audience what they want them to hear. The audiences who are subject to the PR strategies allow themselves to be sold or not based on the effectiveness of such campaigns.In effect PR is part of the fabric of our lives.My question is: whatever happened to simply being open and honest?Well that would put the PR people out of job. It would make the consumers of PR feel exposed and uncomfortable. It would make the audience of PR dubious about the credibility of those they are listening to.So it seems that everyone wants to live in the fantasy that PR can create rather than live in the truth of what is really going on.What does that say for our tolerance for the pain that goes with the truth? Well clearly it says that it is extremely low.Is this a good thing?Well some will say that feeling no pain is definitely desirable.If that's the case then suppose that you are in the middle of the street and a truck is heading right for you. Is it your preference to "pretend" that this is not happeni
A Franchise strategy allows the Franchisor to penetrate, develop, and dominate markets on a simultaneous basis. A Franchise system also allows for each individual Franchisee to own their very own business, and yet participate in, and garner value from, a proven Franchise system.
A good Franchise system allows the Franchise Company to gain market share quickly, which serves as a barrier to competition, and helps build the Brand, which in turn creates exponential value for all stakeholders – including each Franchisee.
So how do you identify a good Franchise system? Well it makes sense that if you want to find out about strategies, culture, and compatibility, then you should ask the right questions. The answers can then be assessed to determine if the fit is right.
The following discussion covers five questions that should always be asked by the Franchise Candidate. If a Franchisor is either unwilling, or unprepared, to answer these questions, it should be a strong indicator that the fit may not be right.
How Big Is The Market?
The Franchisor should have a good handle on the available market for the product or service that you will be offering as a Franchisee. Presumably the Franchisor has done extensive research on the current market size, as well as the potential market size for the future.
The Franchisor should be willing to share that information with you so you can assess the data to make sure that the opportunity is going to be of sufficient size to satisfy your own goals. You may have to sign a non-disclosure agreement first, but the information is important to you, so it must be assessed. The whole idea of Franchising is to ensure that the goals and dreams of the Franchisee, and those of the Franchisor, are unified. If the market availability will allow for strategies to be implemented by you, which are consistent with your goals, and those penetration goals are congruent with the Franchisor’s goals, then all is good.
If it’s a long-standing and stable market, then there should be plenty of statistics to back up that conclusion. If it’s a new and burgeoning market, there should be analysis that you can assess to give you a comfort level that you, together with Franchisor, can go get a significant share. If it’s a fad market, or limited life market, then the strategies should reflect that, as should the agreements.
The caution is that if the Franchisor is wishy-washy about the market, or is unwilling to discuss the issue in depth with you, that should be a significant warning sign.
Who are The Competitors?
The Franchisor should have a good understanding about the competition, and how much market share they command. It doesn’t matter how big a market is if it’s completely saturated, unless the Franchisor has specific strategies to eat someone else’s lunch.
The Franchisor should be able to talk to you about specific competitors, what their strategies have been, what they will likely be in the future, and how the Franchise system intends to penetrate that market.
The Franchisor should also be willing to discuss the future competitor that may appear on the horizon. They may not be willing to disclose their specific strategies about dealing with that eventuality – at least not without erasing your memory after the discussion. However, a general discussion about the issue should give you some solace that they have thought about their approach, and that you feel comfortable with their preparedness.
Again, if the Franchisor is not sufficiently prepared to discuss current competition, as well as future competition, then warning bells should go off.
Is The Franchise Scalable?
This issue relates to your own targets, as they all do. If you want to grow a your business to leverage the Franchise process in multiple locations, or by leveraging the results of a number of employees, or by any other criteria appropriate for the business, does the Franchisor allow for that growth? If leverage is one of your goals, and the means and market are available in the Franchise system, what is the cost of that leverage?
Some systems that provide services, won’t allow you to hire employees, while others encourage it. In the case of the systems that encourage it, you should ask about the cost of adding units in that strategy, and the training process for any new employees.
In retail environments, the leverage will come from additional locations, or physical expansion, or additional product lines, so your questions must relate to that availability, and the capital cost required to execute the strategy.
Other related questions include asking about geographic restrictions to where you can build business. Again, some Franchises have geographic restrictions, while others allow you to build business without reference to the map.
The important thing is to ask the questions, and understand the answers to make sure your future growth goals can be met by the system you are assessing.
What Are The Franchisor’s Growth Plans?
You may think that a Franchisor’s growth plans are not important to you once you become a Franchisee. However, there are a number of factors that illustrate that a Franchisor that has continuing growth plans will increase the value of your investment.
The opposite of growth would be shrinkage. That doesn’t sound too good does it? The middle point would be stagnation. That’s not too attractive either. So why is growth important?
One important factor is related to the penetration goal stated above. If there is room to penetrate, and the Franchisor doesn’t have strategies to meet that market, guess want will happen. Yep, competitors will penetrate, and through their growth strategies, they might eat some of your lunch. It is logically better for you that the Franchisor has growth strategies that will address that market need, and grow value in the Franchise system, as opposed to rolling out the welcome mat for competitors.
A second factor is that a normal phenomenon in Franchising is that each Franchise that is added to the system, and each new customer that is added to the system, and each new employee that is added to the system, will increase the value of the brand. Volume carries clout in price negotiation. Messages are carried by more lips. More signs, more transactions, more bank deposits, more customers, more vendors – it all translates to increased brand recognition. Increased brand recognition should translate to more business for each Franchise.
In addition, growth strategies will generally drive up the Franchise Fee. That means that if you pay $2 as a Franchise Fee, and growth strategies drive the Franchise Fee up to $5, then that becomes the base value for your Franchise because the market will pay that price. That’s a nice return on investment if it’s achieved over a reasonable timeframe, which of course is driven by the Franchisor’s growth strategies.
O.K., so there are lots of good reasons that growth is important as opposed to shrinkage or stagnation. However, you must also feel comfortable that the strategy is sensible. That’s why you need to ask the questions, and you should expect well thought out answers that makes sense to you.
What Exit Strategies Are Available?
There are many factors that should come into your analysis before becoming a Franchisee. The folly often lies in not considering this
No matter what business you are in, there is a culture in your office. The language of the office is fluid, changing as quickly. Keeping up is important because clear communication is the key to success in everything you do. Here a few terms you might have heard but were unclear as to their true meaning:Office Creeper- a person who sneaks into an office during business hours and steals personal items and equipment.This is done often in plain view of others who may be confused as to whether or not that person is supposed to be in the office. These criminals are well dressed and pleasant to all staff while in the building.Butt Calls- These are calls made when someone accidentally sits or their cell phone or an object in their purse accidentally causes the cell phone to call. The recipient of the call will hear nose or the conversation of the accidentally caller with someone else. They are a big problem with people who have phones that have one-touch 911 dialing. These calls plug up the emergency system.Multicolor Collar Workers:Gray-collar workers- skilled technicians, emplpyees whose job descriptions combine some white and some bl
The Franchisor should be willing to share that information with you so you can assess the data to make sure that the opportunity is going to be of sufficient size to satisfy your own goals. You may have to sign a non-disclosure agreement first, but the information is important to you, so it must be assessed. The whole idea of Franchising is to ensure that the goals and dreams of the Franchisee, and those of the Franchisor, are unified. If the market availability will allow for strategies to be implemented by you, which are consistent with your goals, and those penetration goals are congruent with the Franchisor’s goals, then all is good.
If it’s a long-standing and stable market, then there should be plenty of statistics to back up that conclusion. If it’s a new and burgeoning market, there should be analysis that you can assess to give you a comfort level that you, together with Franchisor, can go get a significant share. If it’s a fad market, or limited life market, then the strategies should reflect that, as should the agreements.
The caution is that if the Franchisor is wishy-washy about the market, or is unwilling to discuss the issue in depth with you, that should be a significant warning sign.
Who are The Competitors?
The Franchisor should have a good understanding about the competition, and how much market share they command. It doesn’t matter how big a market is if it’s completely saturated, unless the Franchisor has specific strategies to eat someone else’s lunch.
The Franchisor should be able to talk to you about specific competitors, what their strategies have been, what they will likely be in the future, and how the Franchise system intends to penetrate that market.
The Franchisor should also be willing to discuss the future competitor that may appear on the horizon. They may not be willing to disclose their specific strategies about dealing with that eventuality – at least not without erasing your memory after the discussion. However, a general discussion about the issue should give you some solace that they have thought about their approach, and that you feel comfortable with their preparedness.
Again, if the Franchisor is not sufficiently prepared to discuss current competition, as well as future competition, then warning bells should go off.
Is The Franchise Scalable?
This issue relates to your own targets, as they all do. If you want to grow a your business to leverage the Franchise process in multiple locations, or by leveraging the results of a number of employees, or by any other criteria appropriate for the business, does the Franchisor allow for that growth? If leverage is one of your goals, and the means and market are available in the Franchise system, what is the cost of that leverage?
Some systems that provide services, won’t allow you to hire employees, while others encourage it. In the case of the systems that encourage it, you should ask about the cost of adding units in that strategy, and the training process for any new employees.
In retail environments, the leverage will come from additional locations, or physical expansion, or additional product lines, so your questions must relate to that availability, and the capital cost required to execute the strategy.
Other related questions include asking about geographic restrictions to where you can build business. Again, some Franchises have geographic restrictions, while others allow you to build business without reference to the map.
The important thing is to ask the questions, and understand the answers to make sure your future growth goals can be met by the system you are assessing.
What Are The Franchisor’s Growth Plans?
You may think that a Franchisor’s growth plans are not important to you once you become a Franchisee. However, there are a number of factors that illustrate that a Franchisor that has continuing growth plans will increase the value of your investment.
The opposite of growth would be shrinkage. That doesn’t sound too good does it? The middle point would be stagnation. That’s not too attractive either. So why is growth important?
One important factor is related to the penetration goal stated above. If there is room to penetrate, and the Franchisor doesn’t have strategies to meet that market, guess want will happen. Yep, competitors will penetrate, and through their growth strategies, they might eat some of your lunch. It is logically better for you that the Franchisor has growth strategies that will address that market need, and grow value in the Franchise system, as opposed to rolling out the welcome mat for competitors.
A second factor is that a normal phenomenon in Franchising is that each Franchise that is added to the system, and each new customer that is added to the system, and each new employee that is added to the system, will increase the value of the brand. Volume carries clout in price negotiation. Messages are carried by more lips. More signs, more transactions, more bank deposits, more customers, more vendors – it all translates to increased brand recognition. Increased brand recognition should translate to more business for each Franchise.
In addition, growth strategies will generally drive up the Franchise Fee. That means that if you pay $2 as a Franchise Fee, and growth strategies drive the Franchise Fee up to $5, then that becomes the base value for your Franchise because the market will pay that price. That’s a nice return on investment if it’s achieved over a reasonable timeframe, which of course is driven by the Franchisor’s growth strategies.
O.K., so there are lots of good reasons that growth is important as opposed to shrinkage or stagnation. However, you must also feel comfortable that the strategy is sensible. That’s why you need to ask the questions, and you should expect well thought out answers that makes sense to you.
What Exit Strategies Are Available?
There are many factors that should come into your analysis before becoming a Franchisee. The folly often lies in not considering thi
In every business endeavor, advertising is the most crucial part undertaken. This is because you are able to know whether what you are promoting really sells or the other way around. In advertising the products and services of your company you need a material that will make your business noticeable. Using catalogs as a medium for advertising can be a smart way of starting your business.Although it can be concluded that there are lots of advertising materials that can be used then why catalogs? Simply because catalogs can help your prospects accomplish something they want for their business.Catalogs are said to be useful tools utilized for imparting information about certain products and service and often talking about the company itself. Essentially catalog printing is the most effective way of acquiring a multi-page marketing material.Now, with the innovations made in printing technology there are lots of medium on how you can economically save on your printing budget. Catalog printing can be a cost-effective form of advertising if you just know where to look for it.The coming up of online printing services had made it easier to print
The Franchisor should be able to talk to you about specific competitors, what their strategies have been, what they will likely be in the future, and how the Franchise system intends to penetrate that market.
The Franchisor should also be willing to discuss the future competitor that may appear on the horizon. They may not be willing to disclose their specific strategies about dealing with that eventuality – at least not without erasing your memory after the discussion. However, a general discussion about the issue should give you some solace that they have thought about their approach, and that you feel comfortable with their preparedness.
Again, if the Franchisor is not sufficiently prepared to discuss current competition, as well as future competition, then warning bells should go off.
Is The Franchise Scalable?
This issue relates to your own targets, as they all do. If you want to grow a your business to leverage the Franchise process in multiple locations, or by leveraging the results of a number of employees, or by any other criteria appropriate for the business, does the Franchisor allow for that growth? If leverage is one of your goals, and the means and market are available in the Franchise system, what is the cost of that leverage?
Some systems that provide services, won’t allow you to hire employees, while others encourage it. In the case of the systems that encourage it, you should ask about the cost of adding units in that strategy, and the training process for any new employees.
In retail environments, the leverage will come from additional locations, or physical expansion, or additional product lines, so your questions must relate to that availability, and the capital cost required to execute the strategy.
Other related questions include asking about geographic restrictions to where you can build business. Again, some Franchises have geographic restrictions, while others allow you to build business without reference to the map.
The important thing is to ask the questions, and understand the answers to make sure your future growth goals can be met by the system you are assessing.
What Are The Franchisor’s Growth Plans?
You may think that a Franchisor’s growth plans are not important to you once you become a Franchisee. However, there are a number of factors that illustrate that a Franchisor that has continuing growth plans will increase the value of your investment.
The opposite of growth would be shrinkage. That doesn’t sound too good does it? The middle point would be stagnation. That’s not too attractive either. So why is growth important?
One important factor is related to the penetration goal stated above. If there is room to penetrate, and the Franchisor doesn’t have strategies to meet that market, guess want will happen. Yep, competitors will penetrate, and through their growth strategies, they might eat some of your lunch. It is logically better for you that the Franchisor has growth strategies that will address that market need, and grow value in the Franchise system, as opposed to rolling out the welcome mat for competitors.
A second factor is that a normal phenomenon in Franchising is that each Franchise that is added to the system, and each new customer that is added to the system, and each new employee that is added to the system, will increase the value of the brand. Volume carries clout in price negotiation. Messages are carried by more lips. More signs, more transactions, more bank deposits, more customers, more vendors – it all translates to increased brand recognition. Increased brand recognition should translate to more business for each Franchise.
In addition, growth strategies will generally drive up the Franchise Fee. That means that if you pay $2 as a Franchise Fee, and growth strategies drive the Franchise Fee up to $5, then that becomes the base value for your Franchise because the market will pay that price. That’s a nice return on investment if it’s achieved over a reasonable timeframe, which of course is driven by the Franchisor’s growth strategies.
O.K., so there are lots of good reasons that growth is important as opposed to shrinkage or stagnation. However, you must also feel comfortable that the strategy is sensible. That’s why you need to ask the questions, and you should expect well thought out answers that makes sense to you.
What Exit Strategies Are Available?
There are many factors that should come into your analysis before becoming a Franchisee. The folly often lies in not considering thi
Recently I come across the following scale in a national research report to grade each state’s education performance within numerous areas. Do you see anything questionable about this scale?Grading Curve: A (93-100), A- (90-92), B+ (87-89), B (83-86), B- (80-82), C+ (77-79), C (73-76), C- (70-72), D+ (67-69), D (63-66), D- (60-62), F (0-59)If you aren’t scratching your head yet, please allow me ask another question. If you are an employer, a human resource or a quality control manager what expectations do you have toward the performance of your employees? In other words, do you expect your employees to know 50%, 60%, 75%, 80%, 90% or 100% of their job skills or job description? At what level of knowledge and years on the job, would you consider that employee’s performance to be sub-standard and would not entitle her or him to a promotion or a raise and might be within the area of specific discipline strategies from suspension to termination?Now you might be thinking what is this lady talking about. Common sense dictates that every employee should know at least 75% or 3 out of every 4 requirements of their job and within a cer
In retail environments, the leverage will come from additional locations, or physical expansion, or additional product lines, so your questions must relate to that availability, and the capital cost required to execute the strategy.
Other related questions include asking about geographic restrictions to where you can build business. Again, some Franchises have geographic restrictions, while others allow you to build business without reference to the map.
The important thing is to ask the questions, and understand the answers to make sure your future growth goals can be met by the system you are assessing.
What Are The Franchisor’s Growth Plans?
You may think that a Franchisor’s growth plans are not important to you once you become a Franchisee. However, there are a number of factors that illustrate that a Franchisor that has continuing growth plans will increase the value of your investment.
The opposite of growth would be shrinkage. That doesn’t sound too good does it? The middle point would be stagnation. That’s not too attractive either. So why is growth important?
One important factor is related to the penetration goal stated above. If there is room to penetrate, and the Franchisor doesn’t have strategies to meet that market, guess want will happen. Yep, competitors will penetrate, and through their growth strategies, they might eat some of your lunch. It is logically better for you that the Franchisor has growth strategies that will address that market need, and grow value in the Franchise system, as opposed to rolling out the welcome mat for competitors.
A second factor is that a normal phenomenon in Franchising is that each Franchise that is added to the system, and each new customer that is added to the system, and each new employee that is added to the system, will increase the value of the brand. Volume carries clout in price negotiation. Messages are carried by more lips. More signs, more transactions, more bank deposits, more customers, more vendors – it all translates to increased brand recognition. Increased brand recognition should translate to more business for each Franchise.
In addition, growth strategies will generally drive up the Franchise Fee. That means that if you pay $2 as a Franchise Fee, and growth strategies drive the Franchise Fee up to $5, then that becomes the base value for your Franchise because the market will pay that price. That’s a nice return on investment if it’s achieved over a reasonable timeframe, which of course is driven by the Franchisor’s growth strategies.
O.K., so there are lots of good reasons that growth is important as opposed to shrinkage or stagnation. However, you must also feel comfortable that the strategy is sensible. That’s why you need to ask the questions, and you should expect well thought out answers that makes sense to you.
What Exit Strategies Are Available?
There are many factors that should come into your analysis before becoming a Franchisee. The folly often lies in not considering thi
When selling through advertising, you're faced with two options, both of which you will probably use frequently. Those options are display and classified advertising. We won't deal here with radio and television copy writing because it is not something many of you will be using until you have developed a great deal of mail order experience. Once you're dealing with that sort of capital investment, you'll probably have an intimate understanding of the fact that expert help is essential to the successful launch of any campaign, and frankly, electronic media are not our field of experience.Classified ad copy writing is a very exacting craft, not an art in the way that display advertising is. It involves following a few simple guidelines and requires little skill. That's why daily newspapers hire school and college students to take orders - and write - for their classified section over the telephone. The first point worth noting is that classified ads are sold by the word or by the line. This has a bearing on how you write your ads, because if the ad is sold by the word, you're not going to write an ad that has a bunch of "a's" and "the's" in it. But at the sam
A second factor is that a normal phenomenon in Franchising is that each Franchise that is added to the system, and each new customer that is added to the system, and each new employee that is added to the system, will increase the value of the brand. Volume carries clout in price negotiation. Messages are carried by more lips. More signs, more transactions, more bank deposits, more customers, more vendors – it all translates to increased brand recognition. Increased brand recognition should translate to more business for each Franchise.
In addition, growth strategies will generally drive up the Franchise Fee. That means that if you pay $2 as a Franchise Fee, and growth strategies drive the Franchise Fee up to $5, then that becomes the base value for your Franchise because the market will pay that price. That’s a nice return on investment if it’s achieved over a reasonable timeframe, which of course is driven by the Franchisor’s growth strategies.
O.K., so there are lots of good reasons that growth is important as opposed to shrinkage or stagnation. However, you must also feel comfortable that the strategy is sensible. That’s why you need to ask the questions, and you should expect well thought out answers that makes sense to you.
What Exit Strategies Are Available?
There are many factors that should come into your analysis before becoming a Franchisee. The folly often lies in not considering this part of the equation at the very time that you are considering entry into the Franchise in the first place. That’s exactly the time when you need to give significant consideration to the value of the asset that can be created. Ongoing profitability, cashflow, and emotional fulfillment, are all important criteria in the process of making an informed business decision about becoming a Franchisee. But then so is the growth of the asset value you create, along with the ease of realizing that value at the time you intend to exit.
You need to discuss these issues with the Franchisor as you consider the Franchise opportunity. If the Franchisor isn’t willing to discuss these issues, then it may mean that there isn’t a solid basis for asset growth, and current profitability is the only consideration. You have to determine how important this particular part of the equation is for you. The important part is to ask the question so you can assess the response in terms of your own goals and dreams.
There are many more questions that must be asked of the Franchisor. These five questions will give you a good basis to understand the general strategies and thoughts of the Franchisor. That way you can determine if you have unified thinking, and if that answer is affirmative, then you can craft more specific questions about the system.
To receive a free copy of an E-Book titled ‘Franchise Opportunity – Making The Right Decision’ by Dennis Schooley, email that request to corp@schooleymitchell.com.
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