6 Tips for Recruiting Specialist Franchisees for Niche Sectors

Many franchisors look for passion and commitment as their primary criteria and teach candidates the rest, but if you’re recruiting new talent, you may want to look for specialists. If you run a niche business, or just one involving certain skills, read our guide on how to recruit specialist franchisees.

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When ramping up a franchise recruitment scheme, it’s important to know what you’re looking for. The first step is to identify the key areas of expertise you’d like to see in your investors, as well as any qualifications or experience.

Usually, your criteria will depend on your business. Specialist franchises in childcare or education, for example, will probably be looking for very different franchisee qualities to finance, automotive or fitness businesses.

How to recruit specialist franchisees

Here are six top tips for recruiting franchisees with specialised skills.

1. Start with a great description

If you’re going to attract the crème de la crème of available talent, you’ll need to make sure your investment opportunity is attractive. Prospective investors often look at tens or even hundreds of businesses, so you must take steps to help yours stand out from the competition.

To boost your chances of getting the attention of talented professionals, you should create marketing material with plenty of facts about your franchise and make sure it’s easily accessible. People are used to having information at their fingertips, and if they have to contact you to find out the basics, they might just click on to the next opportunity.

Bring your opportunity to life by providing an insight into life as a franchisee. You could include case studies, success stories and articles, as well as quotes and stats to draw your audience in.

2. Make contact with relevant organisations

There are countless opportunities to source specialised franchisee candidates that you’re probably not aware of. Here’s a quick rundown of some of the organisations and events that can put you in contact with talent.

• The British Franchise Association (BFA) - The franchise industry’s regulatory body accredits ethical and trustworthy businesses and gives potential entrepreneurs the reassurance they need to go ahead with an investment agreement. The BFA website is a go-to source of information for candidates, and you can add a link to your website, which drives interested investors straight to you.

• Franchise exhibitions - A huge variety of local and national franchise expos take place across the UK every year. Bag a stall and use the opportunity to network with potential investors and provide more information about your franchise. These events are full of interested and motivated people, so they’re a great place to start when recruiting new franchisees.

• Local colleges and universities - If you’re looking for franchisees with specific qualifications, there’s no better place to go than local educational facilities. You could organise events, talks and seminars with people on a particular course or take part in careers fairs to encourage students to consider franchising.

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>> Read more:

• Top 5 Tips for Recruiting Quality Franchisees
• What Franchisors Look For When Recruiting
• Tips for Recruitment and Selection

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3. Expand your search area

If you want to find franchisees with the highest level of qualifications and expertise, it’s worth casting the net wider. The more people who see your franchise and investment opportunity, the greater your chances of finding your perfect candidate.

Of course, the chosen applicant may have to move to be near their franchise territory. If you can’t offer an effective remote work option, it’s vital you publicise an attractive relocation package.

Hopefully, you’ll end up with a network of highly skilled franchisees with a range of different backgrounds, perspectives and ideas.

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>> Read more:

• Recruitment: Why Your Employees Are The Face Of Your Brand
• 10 Ways to Boost Employee Happiness, Engagement, and Satisfaction
• Improving your franchise recruitment strategy
• Tips for Recruitment and Selection
• Tips for Managing Employee Turnover
• 5 Effective Employee Engagement Strategies for Your Business

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4. Get on social media

Love it or hate it, social media is an ever-growing part of the recruitment process. As time goes on, more and more tools are introduced to help business owners find talented workers. Targeted adverts, for example, are just one way of finding the right people.

Use LinkedIn to complete advanced searches for candidates in your area or post job descriptions on Facebook and encourage your followers to share them. You could also explore Google+ when recruiting new franchisees.

Specialised sites designed to help business owners find professionals in niche areas can also be invaluable when recruiting workers. Products by companies like Monster, Evenbase and Bullhorn, involving semantic search technology and skills-matching algorithms, can also be useful when looking across international markets.

Hiring managers and recruiters are increasingly turning to the social web to market their companies to job seekers. –Joe Budzienski, ThreeMain co-founder and CEO

5. Explore your pool of employees, contractors and freelancers

If you’re purely focussing on bringing in people from outside the franchise, you may be overlooking some of your best potential candidates. Employees, contractors and freelancers can make excellent franchisees, particularly when the role requires specialist knowledge.

Those with an existing relationship with the franchise are likely to have an in-depth understanding of the business and its strategies, and may also benefit from expertise in niche areas. To avoid ruling out any potential applicants, be sure to discuss your investment opportunities with your existing workforce and encourage ambitious individuals to step forward.

6. Use every opportunity to find and screen candidates

Don’t miss opportunities to narrow down your candidate pool. Events like discovery days and other meetings are a great chance for you not only to start assessing prospective franchisees, but also to begin nurturing a positive relationship with them.

When a potential franchisee gets in touch, don’t waste time telling them how wonderful your franchise opportunity is. Instead, use the conversation to ask them some questions. You could focus on:

• Their career ambitions

• Their values and reasons for getting in touch

• Their previous experience and qualifications

• Their finances

Being a franchisor

Point Franchise has a wealth of resources for both franchisors and franchisees. Whether you’re in the process of recruiting specialist franchisees or just growing your business, you might like to explore our franchise guides. They cover every aspect of entrepreneurship, with plenty of tips and tricks for continued success.