| By Dugan Aylen, Director of Franchise Recruitment Services (FRS) Ltd 
For many franchisors, signing a franchisee brings in revenue which is much needed in a growing network. In most cases, the majority of the franchise fee will cover all the costs associated with getting the new franchisee up and running in the business, with the remainder used to boost the advertising budget and prop up other franchisee recruitment operations and support services.
It’s a ‘Buyers’ Market…
There are now almost a 1,000 franchise brands in the UK, and with the numbers of franchise enquiries growing at a much lower relative rate, potential franchisees are the ones putting themselves firmly in control of the market in many cases with such a seemingly wide range of options at their fingertips.
Franchisors in the UK are only signing 5 franchisees a year on average, and with general targets being between 10-12 new franchisees annually, the shortfall of leads has led to some desperate measures.
 Sell, Sell, Sell!
Many brands, especially if they are new to the market adopt the well-known recruitment strategy of: ‘if they have a pulse and a cheque book, sign them up.’ This is a worrying trend precipitated by the lack of quality enquiries, the need to generate revenue immediately, necessity to build the network of franchisees to give confidence to future candidates and sometimes just pure greed.
No Long Term Sustainability
While this strategy may work in the short term, the lack of selectivity will lead to a weak network composed of under-performing and failing franchise owners who have felt misled, and in some cases, exploited.
The brand name never gets a chance to cast a positive imprint within its sector, and the recruitment of quality franchise owners becomes very difficult if any ‘digging’ is carried out. This vicious circle will continue until the entire network (if you can call it that) collapses and many individuals lose money, and sometimes, their livelihood.
Matchmaking Services
Appointing franchisees is very much a two way process whereby information is shared in an upfront manner and due diligence encouraged at both ends with a view to ‘finding a fit’.
Outsourcing part of the qualification process, in order to ensure the right people are found at enquiry level, and subsequently ‘interviewed’, will allow consistent and sustainable growth, and avoid the desperate approach of ‘selling’ franchises that during the ‘80’s gave franchising a bad name.
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