Franchising 101: 7 Signs You're Ready to Expand Your Business as a Franchisor
Becky Martin, writer
Published at 04/01/2020, Updated on 04/05/2022 , Reading time: 5 min
Looking to expand your business? Franchising can be a great option - if you’re ready. Today, we consider the seven signs that your business can be expanded through the franchise model.
If your business is doing really well and you’ve successfully differentiated your brand within a competitive market, you might want to consider expanding. After all, franchising can be one of the quickest and most cost-effective ways to grow a business, but it's not without its challenges. You’ll most likely have to make changes to your business model, which takes time and effort, and may have an impact on the successful business that you’re attempting to franchise.
A big mistake that many entrepreneurs make is franchising their business before either they or the business are ready. So, if you want to become a franchisor and join the 48,600 franchised units in the UK, this article should help you make sure you and your business are in a suitable state. Here are the top seven signs that you’re ready to expand your business through franchising.
>> Read more:
- Is the Franchising Model Right for Me?
- A basic guide to franchising
- Franchising: An Exciting Alternative To Retirement
- Who can own a franchise?
- Franchising 101: The basics
- Understanding the Foundation of Franchising
- Franchising is on the rise: here’s why
- You can clearly articulate what your brand is
If you’re to be a successful franchisor, you’re going to need more than an excellent business concept. You need to be clear about what your brand is and have outlines for operations and methods for attracting new customers. It’s important to be able to describe every aspect of your business’ branding to your employees, potential franchisees and investors.
- It’s popular with customers
It may sound obvious, but if your products or services are popular and in high demand, there’s a great chance you will be successful at franchising.
- It can be replicated easily
Even if your business is successful in the location you launched it in, it needs to work well in other locations throughout the town or across the UK. Therefore, you need to figure out if your business is currently thriving because of the specific location it’s in or because it has a universal appeal. Businesses with a location-specific popularity are hard to replicate successfully.
A thriving industry There are 48,600 franchised units in the UK
Also, be careful not to underestimate how much value you add to the business yourself. If one of the main reasons why your business thrives is because of you and how you interact with customers, it’s possible that another franchise location might not be received so well without you there. To be a lucrative franchise, each unit has to be able to tackle the daily challenges without your personal touch or guidance.
- There are no major bottlenecks with the existing business model
Your business process should be well integrated with supply chains, customers and employee management. If you are to succeed as a franchisor, your business needs to be process oriented.
- You have the right group of people on board
To be successful, your business strategy needs to executed well. It’s not impossible for businesses with excellent strategies to fail because they weren’t executed perfectly. If you have a talented group of employees on board who truly care about the growth of your brand, you’re on the right track to franchising success. When you hire employees and later recruit franchisees, make sure they are able to take your brand forward in the direction you’ve dreamed of.
Part of your role as a franchisor is delegating responsibility effectively. Every franchisee needs to be kept in the loop and operate from unified business systems. It’s incredibly difficult to build such a cohesive brand on your own. Therefore, you’ll probably need to team up with multiple experts that specialise in everything from advertising and public relations to legal issues and training.
>> Read more:
- Top 5 Qualities of a Successful Franchisor
- Franchisor and Franchisee: The Importance of a Strong Relationship
- Tips for Franchisors
- Top 5 Mistakes To Avoid Making As A Franchisor
- What It Really Means To Be a Franchisor
- Ten Ways to Be the Best Franchisor a Franchisee Could Wish For
- Why it’s Important for Franchisors to Visit Franchisees.
- Your business has enough revenue
Although you can often turn to lenders for money, it’s important that your business has sufficient, regular revenue. You need to make sure you can afford to survive the lean months (the time of year when your product or services aren’t as practical or in demand, e.g. ice cream in winter).
Your business venture will most likely be made up of personal financial stake and investing partners. When developing your band, covering legal fees and seeking the help of experts, costs can quickly multiply. You can read more about franchise start-up costs here and here.
- Your expectations are realistic
Most success stories emerge from entrepreneurs with big dreams and high expectations. But, if you’re not careful, your ambitious vision for expansion could result in financial ruin. As well as having strong belief in your product or service, you need to consider whether it will translate in the real world. You need to be committed to the success of your brand, put in lots of hours and not make any rushed decisions for it to work.
Is my business franchiseable?
Although, in theory, most businesses can be franchised, there are some basic standards that must be met. Your business must meet criteria set by the British Franchise Association (BFA) and should be credible, unique, teachable and provide an adequate return for franchisees.
The BFA also states that a business model must have a defined and proven method of trading for it to be considered a “Business Format Franchise”. Any potential franchisor must put its model to the test for at least a year, evaluating each activity, result and challenge to ensure that it can be a success.
In summary…
Even if your business is ready to be franchised, you need to understand whether you’re ready to be a franchisor. Developing and running a franchise system needs a whole host of different skills compared to those needed to own and operate your own business. It’s most likely that you'll spend less time in your business and more time meeting with franchise professionals, developing marketing plans and securing finance for your new venture.
If you want to learn more about franchising your business, consult our 'Franchising 101' series.
Becky Martin, writer