“I am interested in franchising my business, but I am not ready,” said a woman this past week. Sometimes this means that they do not have the money, even considering our economical plans, but after some follow up questions, she said, “We don’t have operational manuals and some of the details of the business procedures put together yet. We are changing our logo and are going to have some new marketing materials in the next few weeks.”
Well, none of that matters very much!
Frequently when people say they aren’t ready to franchise – other than for the money issue, which is common – what they are really saying is, “I know what I would need to attract an investor, or to sell my business, and I don’t have my books and other materials at the level I would need.”
Selling a franchise is not like attracting an investor or selling the business.
Most of the buyers of a new franchise concept will buy it based on emotion, rather than on an extensive evaluation. Most franchise buyers will see the business, meet the owner, look at the operation, and say to themselves, “I want to have one of these.”
As part of the franchise sale process, we don’t normally show the financial records of the current company. We may show a selected portion, such as sales, cost of goods, and gross profit, but the books are not opened. We show the client how to answer the question, “How much money can I make?” The business does not need a current operations manual; we will write one for them as part of the franchise program. Changing their logo and artwork in a few weeks? We will incorporate that when ready. It is NO problem, and we have done it many times! Don’t have a registered trademark? We do that for over half of our clients.
Many small business owners may be more ready to begin selling franchises than they think! Let us speak with you and make an evaluation. Contact us today.
This article is based on an article by John Power of AdvantaFran Franchise Consulting. The Principium Group is a strategic alliance partner with AdvantaFran.