Your business is doing great, you now want to grow and know franchising is your path. You begin to wonder, “What does it take to build a successful franchise program?”
Successful franchises are made up of a bunch of different elements that all lend to their success. Keep in mind franchising is not just about your business name (to learn more read “Myth – People Buy a Franchise Just for the Name”), discounted equipment and products you can purchase or relationships you have established with vendors. While these things are important they are not the cornerstone of successful franchising. The idea is to put together a franchise program that is comprehensive and embodies not only what is mentioned above but goes far beyond that from an operational standpoint (watch our brief video that discusses how we build you a comprehensive franchise program). Let’s explore this a bit further however please realize you do NOT need to have all these elements in order to build a franchise program.
Uniqueness
Every business is unique and has a magic formula that contributes to their growth (see a list of the unique businesses we have taken through the franchise process). Maybe your magic formula is that you have added a different twist to a common service or product. Perhaps your magic formula is a strategy for how you capture customers or clients. You may have even figured out a way to use different third-party software programs that contribute to your efficiency. If you are unsure of your magic formula, start thinking about what brings people to your business. The things that attract people to your business or what makes you a destination place is what makes you unique!
Scalability
Is your business scalable? In other words could your business thrive in other markets? Ask yourself is there a generic demand for the service you perform and/or the product you offer or is it only specific to your geographic area. Another aspect to think about is if your business is flexible: can it complement another business; be started out of a home with the option to grow into a location later; or can your business be mobile. This is not all necessary to franchise but these aspects of your business are definitely some things to take into consideration.
Let’s talk about revenue. How do you make it? Identify the different ways you make money. Perhaps you offer multiple services, multiple products or a combination of both. Maybe you have created different types of programs that ultimately help you generate revenue. This could be in the form of fundraising events in which you donate a portion of all proceeds to a charity and ultimately drives more people to your business. Or maybe there are services, products or programs that you introduce into your business which are seasonal and drive more revenue. In other words identifying your streams of revenue will also help determine scalability.
Best Practices
Franchising is really about teaching someone else your business. The bottom line is that you have developed your own way of doing things (best practices). It’s this knowledge that is valuable. It may be simple things such as checklists, how you buy products, how you provide customer service or hiring guidelines. A lot of these things that you may view as “common sense” or “simple”, when bundled together, are ultimately your system of best practices (to learn more see our article on “Is My Business Too Simple for Franchising?”). Through our process we will identify your best practices that you will eventually pass onto your franchisees.
Now ask yourself if you have the passion to help others be successful. Do you have a drive to teach other people what you have created? One of the most important elements of building a successful franchise is YOU. What makes a franchise system successful is a leader who is a visionary and is always one step ahead whether it is advancements in technology or new products and/or services that are rolled out. The bottom line is they are always doing something to add value to their program. Does this sound like you?
Ready to Build a Successful Franchise?
Building a successful franchise is about incorporating your uniqueness, being scalable and best practices that you ultimately pass onto others. Remember you do NOT need to have all of these elements. These are just a FEW of the elements to emphasize in your franchise program and one of these may be enough to do the trick. To learn more and identify what elements of your business could be highlighted to build a franchise feel free to visit our main website for additional information on franchising call us at 1-877-615-5177.
