We really prefer you call us at (877) 615-5177 so we can learn about your business
OR you can simply fill out the form below (Privacy Policy open in new window)
* To better answer your questions, fields marked with an asterisk are required.
You have questions, we will give you direct answers with no fluff or pressure.
The most common questions are: "how do I franchise a business, how difficult is it to get done,
how expensive is it and will it be time consuming?"
When you contact us you will actually talk
to someone who will be putting your franchise program together, not some salesperson making a
commmission off you!
Yep, you call us and guaranteed you will get straight-forward no BS answers with a clear understanding of exactly what it will take to franchise your business (make sure to visit our Home Page to learn what it really means to franchise your business). The first thing we will do is chat with you to determine if franchising is even the right solution for your business.
Franchising is not for everyone, there are some advantages and there are some disadvantages to franchising. We'll go over all the steps to franchising and explain to you what you need to know about the magic franchise documents. For now, let's talk about the process involved in order to franchise your business.
Little bit of background. We are a full service award-winning franchise development company that will turn your business into a franchise for a one-time flat fee. We have a proprietary franchise development process that makes how to franchise your business quick, easy and affordable. Every franchise program we build is custom to reflect the uniqueness of your business. We do not use templates or ask you to fill out questionnaires. NO gimmicks, NO hidden agendas and we do NOT build ourselves into your franchise program or make money off your success. We are the only ones in the industry recognized for ethics, integrity and transparency in the marketplace.
Franchising is a strategy that can help you to expand your business by way of
other people operating your exact same business in other markets.
A franchising
strategy provides other people with the benefits of owning their own business,
using your name and logo, system and know-how while benefiting from your
experience and being provided with training and ongoing support. This allows
you to grow and build your brand faster compared to expanding on your own.
Read on to learn all about what it takes to become a franchisor so you can
decide if franchising should be included in your growth plans.
A franchise is operated by an independent business owner that has permission by you
(under a contractual relationship) to operate the same type of business you created,
offering the same services and products in the same manner as you and under your same
name.
This is different from other business expansion models, such as bringing on
investors or organic growth. Organic growth, for example, is when you open other
locations yourself, operating and managing these businesses on your own (usually
a structure of managers, district and regional managers). Another example is a
distributor, which is simply a relationship where you would just supply other
businesses with products (basically a vendor to them) and where you have zero control
over how the other business operates. Both of these examples are NOT a franchise.
Instead, a franchise is the result of a relationship between you (franchisor) and the independent business owner (franchisee), where the franchisee is fully responsible for all costs associated with starting and operating the business under a specific set of rules that are determined by you. This relationship governs the financial, legal and operational responsibilities between you and your franchisees. If this relationship is put together correctly, it also protects your trade secrets, spells out how you are shielded from liability and incorporates various deterrents and penalties intended to prevent franchisees from leaving you and becoming your competitor.
When we take you though the steps to franchise, we will hit on all the different characteristics that will make a strong franchise program. A franchise has a few key elements that identify it as a franchise relationship, it is important that you know them. We will teach you about them and build these elements into your franchise structure. A few of these elements include:
An initial franchise fee and ongoing royalty fees are paid by franchisees for the right to use your system, methods, techniques and intellectual property (such as trademarks, service marks and of course your trade secrets) while operating their business.
You may require that franchisees use, sell and offer only the equipment, products and services you specify.
You have already developed specific vendor and supplier relationships. The franchisee may be required to use only the vendors and suppliers (this includes service providers) that you specify. If franchisees want to use other vendors and suppliers, they must obtain your approval. This is in an effort to maintain consistency.
It is expected that you will provide any advertising, marketing materials, strategies and plans for franchisees to use in their market. If franchisees want to use other advertising and marketing materials that they create, they must obtain your approval. This is in an effort for you to control how your brand is being represented.
It is common to provide an area of operation for the franchise. A protected territory is common. This is where franchisees do not have to worry about you saturating the market with your brand, competing against you or other franchisees. However, not all franchisors provide protected territories and it will depend on your situation.
After a franchisee signs the franchise agreement and before a franchisee comes to training, it is expected you help them setup their busness. Your guidance, experience and wisdom is what the franchisee is counting on. If a build out is required, then the franchisees must make all improvements to the appearance and function of its business according to your specifications prior to opening for operation.
Teaching the franchisee the nuts and bolt of running every aspect your business. Yep, is is excpectd that you will provide a comprehensive training program to the franchisee. Don't worry, we will help develop a blueprint for your franchise training program during our franchise development process.
While franchisees are in business for themselves, they are not by themselves. Staying in contact, mentoring and providing ongoing support to help franchisees while they operate their business and tackle challenges is a key part to their success.
Business owners like you choose to create a franchise program for many reasons. The primary reason is because of resources and talent, not to mention the difficulties that come when trying to operate several locations yourself. When franchising you are leveraging the resources (financial, time and talent) of others to start operating your business in other markets. When someone else operates a business using your name and logo in another market, and doing it the same way you have been doing it by following your magic formula, then slowly you become recognizable in various markets and your business starts to become a brand. Something harder to do on your own. Franchising just makes it quicker.
There are several steps to franchise development. Below is a simple outline of the various steps necessary in order for you to start franchising immediately. As we begin to talk,
you will realize that we have broken each step into easy, manageable phases. Our job is to make franchising your business QUICK & EASY for you.
By the way when we say we make franchising EASY
for you we mean it! The Franchise Maker provides you with a very comprehensive and proprietary hand-holding process to teach, coach, mentor and guide you through the entire franchising process.
We will guide you on how to create an entity for the parent company. This is the company that will be in the business of offering franchises.
Register your trademark (logo and word mark) with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. That's right, we have exceptional and very talented trademark attorneys who will get all trademarks filed for you.
We will structure your franchise system and put together the magic franchise documents (your Franchise Disclosure Document (also known as FDD) package that is required by the FTC together so you can start offering franchises).
We will give this package to one of our franchise attorneys to review, make edtis, changes and file it with the proper state regulators.
We will provide you with instructions on funding your franchise company.
Yep you need them and we will introduce you to one of our accountants who will prepare audited financial statements. This is one of the required exhibits for the FDD package.
We will provide you with all the necessary resources and support materials you will need once you are approved to start franchising. This includes the different manuals necessary to present your operational procedures, systems and proprietary information in an organized fashion to your future franchisees.
We can create and define your franchise applicant approval process, explain the Discovery Day concept and provide you with ongoing assistance as you award franchises.
That is it. Do you need a large staff for the parent company? In a word: No (see our Learning Center article on the topic of hiring people when starting to franchise). We encourage you to start out slowly and expand as your franchise business dictates. We always recommend that you begin to offer franchises in your own state and surrounding states for the first year to keep things at an arms-length distance.
“The process of developing a franchise can be very
complex and you will never know the value in all of the development and resources supplied
by The Franchise Maker until you have reached the status I have this week. This review
comes after we have awarded and officially opened our first franchise location and have
done so within just months of launching our franchise opportunity. It is my belief that
this early success we are experiencing is directly due to the franchise program
development that took place with The Franchise Maker.
When you begin with Dave, you soon realize you are in a structured process. I appreciated
the process as it avoided potential wasted and valuable time. Each conference call was
extremely efficient through conversations as well. Dave truly dives into your business
and learns every aspect of it through methodical questioning and other tools. He learns
your business as if it was his own.
The associated resource companies are also a perk (huge value) within the relationship.
You will need specialty services and having recommended partners helped tremendously
with our franchise development. One, you need people you can trust to not take advantage
of your company. Two, you need people that are experienced with the services that you
need. Dave has them and will make these ever so valuable introductions for you.
Once we finished I even found value in his ongoing programs. These programs helped us
create and hone our internal systems and still allow me to have a valued experienced
advisor for the natural variations of franchising.
At this point in my venture, I can honestly say this is something I could not have even
dreamed doing this by myself or anybody else. Much less, doing so at the level of
organization and detail that has been provided by The Franchise Maker and to my new
franchising company. There have been innumerable ah-ha moments provided by The Franchise
Maker throughout the franchise development process and throughout our franchise candidate
qualification stage, awarding process and even through opening a franchise location.
When Dave Waldman says trust the process, you can count on him to be a conduit for your success.
He is the ultimate Franchise Maker.”
Jesse Cox, Founder – Access Garage Doors
"The Franchise Maker was literally the answer to all of my fears, concerns, and prayers. I knew nothing about how a franchise structure was to be built. The whole process seemed so complicated and overwhelming to me. And I still had a thriving business to tend to. I was worried about how building a franchise from the ground up would adversely affect my current business. Once I started working with Dave I began to realize just how turnkey The Franchise Maker has made building a franchise. Dave has an uncanny ability to ask questions and absorb all that you're saying, and..." [ read the rest ]
"I researched other franchise competitors for over a year and even flew half way across the country to visit one. One day I put my info in at The Franchise Maker's website and immediately got a call. After one talk on the phone I knew this would be the company for me. We clicked immediately. The great thing about The Franchise Maker is they don't take on too many clients at one time, so they can focus 100% on me and my business. I can call or email them anytime and they get the job done. Now they have opened up their contacts to me and I have everything I need including..." [ read the rest ]
"
The Franchise Maker made our franchising process considerably less expensive and far
less complex than I anticipated. I was a bit concerned about franchising my business
because I already had a couple of locations that was planning to sell in the future and
I did not want to jeopardize that plan. In my initial conversations with Dave he genuinely
understood my concerns, explained that I can sell them as a turn-key business later
with the added benefit of..."
[ read the rest ]
"
Have you ever had an experience that was as close to perfect as you could imagine? Or
maybe you couldn't even imagine what something would look or feel like that was that
close to perfect? Well, I can only say that that’s what happened to me once I engaged
with The Franchise Maker. The huge amount of work involved, the work done by Dave and
his team, was exceptionally well done. And Dave patiently explained every word, step
by step, so that I would know what the content was and be able to speak to it with
potential franchisees. The content was perfect and sailed through the regulatory
process without..."
[ read the rest ]
The steps for how to create a franchise are fairly uniform regardless of the type of business you operate. Franchising is
regulated by the Federal Trade Commission, which means it is federal. Once you are approved in your home state, you will
be good to offer franchises throughout the entire United States (with a few exceptions). However, in order to franchise,
the first step is that the relationship between you and the franchisee needs to be spelled out and presented in a specific
manner.
And this is where The Franchise Maker comes into the picture. You are not expected to navigate these waters on your
own or even know how the relationship with your franchisees will be governed. Yep, we will: hold your hand and walk through
it all, teach you what franchising really means, how to morph into your new role as a franchisor and we wil share with you
industry best practices (just to name a few). So, let’s look at what you are required to do and how all this information is
supposed to be presented so you can start offering franchises.
The Federal Trade Commission regulates franchising so there is transparency between you and your franchisees. This is done to protect your future franchisees from being defrauded, lied to or misled by you). You are required to give all franchise prospects this package which is a document that regulates the relationship between you and your franchisees. This package is known as the Franchise Disclosure Document. To learn more about what is actually in this package see this article about the elements of a franchise disclosure document. The Franchise Maker will hold your hand and work closely with you to put together all the various pieces necessary for this package; and most important put in the format necessary for one of our franchise attorneys to review and file it.
Becoming a franchise does not stop once you get the Franchise Disclosure Document (the magic package). Nope, now the real fun begins.
While this Franchise Disclosure Document is important, in our humble opinion once you have it, you need to know what to do with it.
When do you give it out, how do you give it out, how long does a prospective franchisee need to have it, how do I go about answering
questions about it, how does it become a done deal, what if there are multiple people involved that wants to buy one franchise and
so these are just a few of the situations you will need to know to handle. The Franchise Maker will prepare you for all these
situations and some situations that may not even be on your radar because we believe the better prepared you are to handle various
situations the more confidence a prospective franchisee will have in you.
Let's talk about how to qualify prospective franchisees. While we will build you an attractive, realistic and affordable franchise program, it won't mean anything if you do not take the time to qualify people who come your way.
Many things will need to be addressed when talking with prospective franchisees. Starting with:
Once you sign on a franchisee, then you enter into the execution phase. The most important part of franchising is your execution. Execution refers to not only what you are doing to help your franchisee with regards to securing space and build out (if applicable), but also what you are doing to help them prepare for your franchise training program. The franchise training program is yet another part of execution. Rest assured that as part of our franchise development program we will be working with you to define what is your franchise training program and through our proprietary processes, provide you with a road map that will enable you to identify what you will be doing each training day.
Execution is one thing, but you need to know what is a realistic growth strategy. Every business is different and depending on your concept will determine how slow or fast you should expand. Everyone would like to think that the minute they put out the word that they are franchising they will be overwhelmed with interest. And while that may be the case, just because you have overwhelming interest does not necessarily give you the green light to get as many franchises out there as you can. We believe that the biggest problem in franchising is fast growth. History has shown that brands that grow fast do not last. We will discover what is a realistic growth strategy for you and what is your bandwidth while working together. Your growth strategy will continue to evolve as you become more seasoned with franchising.
The Franchise Maker will guide you through the entire franchising process and much more.
When you talk with us, we will discuss your business to identify what makes it unique and
its strengths and weaknesses, all of which will help determine if franchising your business
actually makes sense.
You might be interested to know that more often than not our
President comes the conclusion that for some business owners, franchising does not make
any sense. Yes you read that right, unlike any one you might find on the Internet, our
President turns business owners away. We won't just take anyone to franchise. In fact, our
President says all the time that the biggest injustice is when someone desperate out there
takes a business owner to franchise when it is not ready or it does not make sense (read this article in our Learning Center about
making a franchise without any scams). When you call us, you will get straight-forward answers!
The Franchise Maker will help you through the entire process to
franchise your business. We have the experience and knowledge to help you decide if your
business can grow through franchising.
If franchising is right for your business,
we provide you with our proprietary franchise development process. We will manage
your entire franchise development process (no reverse delegation, that's right we
actually do the work) resulting in a comprehensive franchise program that is unique
to your business. And most importantly, one that you understand so when you are asked
questions later from a prospective franchisee you do not have the deer the headlights look.
With us, the franchising process is simple, fast, efficient and affordable. Your involvement is necessary and we will work at your pace but the amount of time we need from you is not intrusive (see this article on how long it takes to franchise). A few of the things that might make your business ripe for franchising include:
If you can answer "yes" to these questions, your business might be ready for franchising and we encourage you to Contact Us.
So what does it cost to franchise a business?
Not as much as you think, we are sensitive to your needs to minimize costs and would rather
see you spend money on advertising and marketing your franchise when we are finished.
Our
fees are minimal and all costs to franchise your business are a fixed FLAT RATE. Compensation for
our services are broken down into different phases and you can choose to pay when each phase
is completed. You can take advantage of our Pay-As-You-Go program where you do not have to
commit to a large sum up front. We will be happy to explain this program to you in greater
detail when you
contact us.
Our Pay-As-You-Go program was created to give you added confidence in our services since
the risk is shifted on us to perform for YOU.
Yep, you are really going to be surprised at how little it will actually cost you to franchise a business, keep reading.
You can expect the absolute total cost to franchise your business to be $2M dollars (just kidding) it is actually a lot less than $50K with The Franchise Maker.
Unlike other costs you may have seen on the internet or heard about, this represents a true comprehensive cost. Yep that’s right, no bait and switch here. As mentioned
above everything we do is a flat fee. And yes this cost includes the fees for all work performed to prepare your documents, franchise operations manual materials, filing fees
in addition to the attorneys and accountants that are necessary and part of the process.
Don’t let the costs of franchising hold you back from growing your business. By the time
you are ready to offer franchises, you will have spent less than the amount listed above. It’s that simple! Want to know specifics, call us.
“For years, we contemplated franchising our business in the wellness industry. We spoke with numerous consultants, seeking someone
who could truly understand our niche and guide us effectively. Our search ended when we met Dave from The Franchise Maker. His understanding of our business and the industry
stood out, making him the best choice for us.
Dave introduced us to an extremely disciplined framework and engaging homework assignments that provided us with a deeper understanding
of the systems running our enterprises. His approach was enlightening and transformed the way we view our business operations.
The world of franchising, with its complexities and
intricacies, was masterfully explained by Dave. His patience and persistence ensured that we fully understood each step of the process. As a minority business owner, I appreciated
his commitment to delivering top-quality work and his dedication to ensuring our success.
We highly recommend The Franchise Maker to any business serious about franchising. They are very affordable, the value
they bring to the table is unparalleled, and their expertise is invaluable. If you're considering franchising your business, The Franchise Maker should be your first call!
Dr. Anurag Nair, Co-Founder – Santhigram Wellness
The Franchise Maker is a proud supporter of the Susan G. Komen Foundation to find the cure for breast cancer.
