How to Franchise Your Business: A Step-by-Step Guide
Franchising has become an increasingly popular way to grow your small business, but it’s not necessarily easy or simple. If you want to franchise your business, there are many steps you have to take, from finding expert advice to setting up your own franchisee training platforms effectively. This step-by-step guide should help you learn how to franchise your business successfully and why franchising can be a fantastic option for small businesses to expand.
What is franchising?
Franchising is a way of doing business where a company (the franchisor) sells all or part of its business model and trademark, together with training and support, to another party (the franchisee) who then opens up their own similar business replicating an already tried and tested successful business model. If you’re thinking about franchising your own company, it’s worth taking the time upfront to thoroughly research what such an arrangement means for you. Read on for more information on how to franchise your business! If you want to learn more about franchising, we recommend you to read our article on learning the basics of franchising.
Why you should consider franchising your small business
Franchising isn’t just for big brands—more and more entrepreneurs are seeing success by making their business idea a franchise. There are several reasons why you might want to consider franchising your small business, including access to funding, allowing your business to make more money, running multiple locations without the stress of doing it all by yourself, and many more. While franchising can be an excellent route for expanding your business model, it does come with its own set of challenges; before you decide if franchising is right for you or not, take some time to learn about what’s involved in each step of franchising your small business. Here’s an overview of each stage
Steps to franchising your business
There are many advantages to franchising your business, but of course, there is a lot of hard work you need to put in when attempting to expand any business from a small business to a larger name, but franchising is a very popular option since this way you are not on your own you don’t have to run each location by yourself you have your franchisees do this under your successful business model and oversee and support franchisees while expanding and recruiting new franchisees. If franchising your business sounds like the dream opportunity for you read our list below of the main steps to franchising your small business.
Step 1) Make sure your business is franchisable.
Before you can franchise your business, it’s crucial that you have a business worth franchising. If you’re hoping to grow your business with an eye on franchising in the future, think about whether your company could benefit from being set up as a franchise right now. Do you already have a proven system in place? Is there someone else who would be interested in taking over some parts of your business operation and setting up shop as a franchisee? Are you already turning down potential customers because they can’t get their hands on what you sell? If so, then it might be time for a serious conversation with yourself about making your business a franchise sooner rather than later.
Step 2) Develop a business strategy.
It’s always a good idea to develop a strong business strategy. Think about what differentiates your franchise from others in its space, how you will set yourself apart from competitors, and whether franchising is right for your company. When coming up with strategies that can help you grow faster, remember there are two primary components of business growth. The first is increasing sales volume (usually through increased customer demand), and the second is growing profits by reducing costs. At each stage of company development, consider whether franchising may be an option for leveraging your capital into greater sales volume and profits while reducing costs—and if so, carefully weigh its pros and cons.
Step 3) Consider talking to an experienced franchise consultant.
Even if you’re confident in your product and franchise that you can sell it well, there are just too many unknowns involved with franchising to go it alone. An expert will help advise you on important considerations like how much money you’ll need, what legal documents you should draw up, and how much control your corporation will have over day-to-day operations. They’ll also be able to tell whether or not franchising is right for your business or if another type of investment would be better suited for your goals. If you are in need of an experienced franchise consultant browse our list of the best franchise consultants in the UK.
Step 4) Decide on your franchise fee structure.
Choosing what kind of franchise fee structure you want from your business is an important part of franchising. If you set it too high, potential franchisees may not be able to afford your franchise. On the other hand, if you set it too low, you could end up getting a lot of people who are just in it for a quick buck and aren’t interested in building your brand. Make sure that your franchise fee structure doesn’t limit who can purchase a license. Also consider how much support they will receive after buying their license and how often they will need access to those resources while they get started. If you want to learn more about franchise fees and royalties, read our article about franchise fees.
Step 5) Create a plan to train new franchisees.
Training your franchisees is more than just handing them a manual. Investing in their success will go a long way toward developing loyal, lifelong customers who can help build your brand. As your franchise network grows, you’ll be responsible for building systems and standards that support growth, from customer service training and point of sale systems to software and marketing support. You may also need to create programs or certifications to ensure uniformity across locations. Remember, people buy a franchise since usually, they don’t want to enter the world of business alone this is why buying a franchise is such a popular option for new entrepreneurs who have never run a business before, so this is why it is important you have a good training plan or platform in place as this will not just help the franchisee it will benefit you the franchisor so your brand can be grown the right way.
Step 6) Market your franchise for sale.
Digital marketing is definitely the best way to recruit new franchisees as soon as possible. This is understandable since people are more likely to make an enquiry to your franchise using marketing like an online franchise directory than they would attend a show where your franchise is exhibiting, for example. This does not mean shows bring no benefits, but digital marketing with a franchise directory is certainly the best way to go for an efficient, low-cost advertising opportunity to get your brand out there. If you own a franchise you are interested in growing, perhaps consider advertising with us at Franchise UK to handle your lead generation needs. We have a lot of experience in this field and know what works today and what doesn’t.
Franchising could be an excellent option for growing your small business.
To franchise or not to franchise? For many small businesses, it’s a no-brainer. You need customers. You need growth, and franchising offers an easy solution—but it’s not without its hurdles. If you want to find out more information about franchising your business, we highly recommend you browse our franchising blog here at Franchise UK or use the Quality Franchise Associations free franchise training platform. If you are in need of specific information about your brand or if it is ready to become a franchise, consider arranging a call with experienced franchise consultants such as the team at Infinity Business Growth Network.
I hope you have found this guide of interest & use. However, if you require more assistance to get the interest of potential franchisees, we recommend filling out the form below with some basic contact information, and we will put you in touch with experienced franchise consultants recommended by Franchise UK.