Already in Part 3 of our 7 part series! Just to recap; in Part 1 we covered Learning about Franchising and in Part 2 we looked at how important it was to choose the right people and in this post we are going to delve into the vision of your franchise empire.
Take some time to dream
There is going to be a lot for you to do as you travel the journey to franchise success and it’s not unusual for people to become overwhelmed with the thought of trying to tick all the boxes. So before you get too caught up in the details, it’s important you spend solid time creating a “big picture” vision.
This will then become the structure or framework that you build the very foundations of your franchise on.
You need to think about things like:
- Is your product one that can be duplicated successfully?
- Will you franchise all of the business or only part of it?
- Is your brand strong or does it need a make-over before you move forward?
- How adaptable is your product to climate, location and demographics?
- How many locations do you want to end up with?
- Will you stay in Australia or do you want to go global?
- Where would you like your first location to be?
Write down everything you want your franchise empire to be long term. Think about how you are going to get there, and the finer details will come later.
While you are thinking about all of these things, ponder on the kind of person who will likely take up the role of franchisee, delivering your product to your customers. It is very likely you will need to simplify your business, removing the clutter, so they have the best chance of being able to focus on what is important. Simplicity is the key to success in franchising.
What if you don’t have the answers?
If you have thought about some of the points above and realised that you don’t know where to start, this could be an opportune time to do some research.
When trying to grow your business to the next level it’s not uncommon to overlook the most valuable resource of information – the current customer base. Who better to give you some insight than your customers!
- Are they local or do they travel to you?
- What are their favourite products?
- What affects their buying habits? Weather? Trading hours? Service?
- How do they feel about delivery or online service?
Their answers will probably surprise you – your customers are probably after simplicity too.
Once you’ve identified some of these areas, it may help lead you to the answers for other questions that you are developing.
Once you’ve answered some of these questions, they may help lead you to the answers for other questions you are developing.
After the foundations, think framework
Now your franchise is taking shape, time to think structure.
- What will your role be in the franchise group? What suits your skill set?
- Will your franchises be mobile, or with set locations? Could they be home-based businesses? How will you be supporting them in establishing their own successful business?
- Will you need to create a management structure within the group to be able to meet all the needs of your franchisees?
In our book “How to franchise my business simply”, you will find some diagrams to help you start creating the big picture, including our four step Franchise Success Path;
- Develop
The big picture - Define
The business elements which need to change to suit the new franchise structure - Design
The detail of the franchise through your documentation (operations manuals and legal agreements) - Deploy
Recruit your first franchisees and lead them to success
And the next part of our series will comprise those hot words at the tip of everyone’s tongue – finance, fees and profit.
Until then our team is always ready to answer any questions that you may have – who knows where a simple question may take you?