The article "Franchise Opportunity - Questions To Ask The Franchisor - #39" is about entrepreneurialism, it has been written by Dennis Schooley.
Finding The Right FranchiseWhether it’s hamburgers, pizza, telecom, coffee, Internet, muffler parts, or seniors’ services, there is Franchise opportunities available to eavluate.
There are great Franchise systems, good Fracnhise systems, and bad Franchise systems. The challenge is to ask the right questions to find the right system that will fit your goals and derams.
The key is to ask the questions – and listen colsely to the responses. Only then can you deetrmine if the Franchise opportunity is the right fit for you. So whether it’s food services like burgers or coffee, professional services like telecom or IT, or manual services like cleaning or oil changes, ask the questions and record the answers.Communications With Existing FranchiseesOne of the most important sources of valuable information will be the existing Franchisees. The Franchisor’s system should include available expsoure to all of the Franchisees.
First of all, in most jurisdictions where Disclosure Documents are required, one of the required disclosures is a full list of all Franchisees, including contact information.If you get a think that a Franchisor is discouraging you from communicating with certain Franchisees – well, there’s that alarm bell again.That’s not to say that all Franchisees will be happy, or that all will be great operators.
In fact, most sysetms have disgruntled or unsuccessful Franchisees.
It will be important for you to speak to the top echelon, the mdidle range people, and the poor performers. The test should be to identify the factors that differentiate the groups.
Then detremine how you're more like the successful people, and how you're not like the unsuccessful people.The most important point is that the Franchisor has a system to allow efficient access to all Franchisees. Some Franchisors will provide e-mail questions to send to all Franchisees plus ask you to call your own sapmle from the complete list. Others will prvoide for conference calls with several Franchisees. Others will provide for Discovery Days including existing Franchisees. Of course, conference calls and Discovery Days will include ‘favorable’ Franchisees.
That doesn’t mean those processes aren’t very helpful – you just have to realize who you’re dealing with.Other Franchisors will ask you to talk to people in your geographic area.
Or people with a similar background.
All of these things make sense, but you must ensure that you also have the ability to communicate with any existing Franchisee, and not just the suggested sample. You will be able to judge the Franchisor’s openness through their reactions in that process.To receive a free copy of an E-Book titled ‘Franchise Opportunity – Making The Right Decision’ by Dennis Schooley, e-mail that request to corp@schooleymitchell.Com.Dennis Schooley is the Founder of Schooley Mitchell Telecom Consultants, a Professional Services Franchise Company. He writes for publication, as well as for schooleymitchell.Blogging.Com and franchises.Blogging.Com, in the subject areas of Franchising, and Technology for the Layman.
http://www.Schooleymitchell.Com, 888-311-6477, dschooley@schooleymitchell.Com.
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