How to recruit a good Franchisee
Cathryn Hayes - HSBC Head of Franchising
Thanks to the British Franchise Association, banks, exhibitions, trade magazines and the internet, potential franchisees are better informed than ever before.
Growing your network quickly while only selecting new franchisees with the skills and qualities to suit your business is a difficult balance to strike.
The most successful franchisees will:
- demonstrate they fully understand that this is their business, which they are going to make successful
- have fully researched the franchise and know that it will suit their skills and lifestyle
- take ownership of their business plan
- above all, be passionate.
It’s said that you only get one chance to make a first impression, and that is certainly true in the franchisee recruitment market. Potential franchisees generally take about five seconds to decide if an advert interests them, so it’s critical that your adverts attract attention, promoting all your unique selling points clearly and simply.
A potential franchisee will want to know straight away what the business is, what it will cost, what they can expect to make from it and what support is available. You should also explain whether it is a new concept or a long-established business.
Each franchisee will be an ambassador for your business, and you are the best judge of whether they have the right qualities to be successful. Have a clear idea about the essential skills a franchisee needs and plan your interview and vetting process to test these thoroughly.
One of the common mistakes a new franchisor makes is to accept new franchisees that do not really have the skills required. Equally, be careful about letting a third party recruit franchisees on your behalf on a commission basis.
Before considering an application from a potential franchisee, the banks will also be looking for evidence that they have completed their “due diligence”.
Posting from the monthly HSBC Connections newsletter. For more information or to get on the mailing list for the newsletter please email franchiseunit@hsbc.com
New Year New You?
Dan Archer - Franchise Development Director, X-Press Legal Services - Director, BFA
Whether you believe that the secular tradition of New Year’s resolutions has its birth with the Babylonians over four thousand years ago or with the ancient roman king Janus, they have become a seasonal focus for the year ahead. The Babylonians used New Year as a time to return borrowed farm equipment which I am guessing is not one of many people’s resolutions and Janus is believed to have kept one watchful eye on the recent past and the other on the future. So apart from lending his name to January he was thought to be the guy to please with your good intentions for the coming months.
For most people New Year Resolutions will be to quit something such as smoking or to lose weight, exercise more, give more to charity or save more. What sits behind all of these sentiments is taking control of the year ahead and improving yourself or having a positive effect on others.
For some 2011 will be their chance to gain the independence and fulfilment that comes from running their own business and for many of those franchising will be their preferred mechanism for entering self-employment. Based on the replication of proven business systems franchising is statistically proven to provide a far better chance of success than stand alone small business. It does however give the “control over your own destiny” that most looking at self-employment seek.
Now this talk of Self-Actualisation is on the one hand all a bit Maslow but in truth the decision to run their own business is usually for the franchisee about not having to bow to a manager’s will, about being in control and about being responsible for their own success. For me it is less about Abraham Maslow and more about the late nineteenth century poet William Ernest Henley who wrote;
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
For the unconquerable souls who enter the franchise sector in 2011 welcome to the family and for anybody caught in the employed clutches of circumstance it is not too late to become the master of your fate.
Right, time to return the plough that I borrowed last year from my Italian neighbour before Janus sees that I still have it, which should clean up my slate!
Dan Archer is Franchise Development Director for X-Press Legal Services and is a Board Member of the British Franchise Association. You can follow Dan on twitter by visiting www.twitter.com/therealdarcher
Tags: dan archer, franchisee, franchising, Self employment, small business, sme, starting a business
Winter and WORLD CUP 2018 woe
Dan Archer - Franchise Development Director, X-Press Legal Services - Director, BFA
It could be the empty feeling as the rest of the country gets snow and in the North West we don’t. It could be the disappointment of the unsuccessful World Cup 2018 bid but I find myself writing this without my usual joie de vivre. My inherent militant vigour has also deserted me and at the moment I would probably lose a debating competition with a “tuition fee” rioting student.
It is at times like this that I have the fortunate position that every franchisor occupies to fall back on. As a franchisor, at times of reduced enthusiasm and moments of questionable motivation, I have the luxury of turning to the boundless commitment of franchisees for inspiration.
Problems with snow? Not for the franchisees of X-Press Legal Services who have cleared driveways, braved the elements and risked hypothermia to keep their businesses running smoothly. Frustrated by the international politics and duplicity of the FIFA voting process, then take solace in the straight forward way that a franchisee wants to know, how can I do more, better and quicker.
I have suffered the rank apathy of large corporate businesses, occupied by thousands of employees who are happy to maintain the status quo. Franchising’s biggest benefit as a structured business format is that franchisees do challenge received wisdom and push the boundaries of proven methodologies, by doing so they improve systems and benefit businesses.
McDonalds’ biggest selling product world wide is the Big Mac, this item is a classic example of a franchisee pushing the boundaries and a franchisor having a system in place to trial, evaluate and incorporate the ideas that improve the system. Franchisors provide a structure and good franchisees provide skill, capital and enthusiasm which cannot be matched in either standalone SME’s or large corporates.
Many considering franchising for the first time miss the importance of a passion for the franchise business that they will be running. Money is important and return on investment is why you are doing it (in most cases) but the desire to throw off the duvet on even the most wintry of mornings is the ace in the hole of your business, something that we explore in a series of free educational seminars on franchising: www.franchise-seminars.biz
So as I return to a more positive place inspired by franchisees’ tales of triumph over meteorological adversity and mini victories at a local level over council bureaucracy what does it all mean? I suppose it means that franchising can beat the weather and enthusiasm can overturn most forms of politicking, but FIFA remains a lore unto itself.
Have fun (throws a snowball).
Dan Archer is Franchise Development Director for X-Press Legal Services and is a Board Member of the British Franchise Association. You can follow Dan on twitter by visiting www.twitter.com/therealdarcher
Tags: dan archer, franchisee, franchising, Self employment, small business, sme, starting a business
