9 Important Questions To Ask A Franchise Sales Representative As A Part Of Your Research
Franchising your business may feel like finding yourself in uncharted waters.
But at a point, you just have to do it anyways for your business to grow, bloom, and to expand faster and better under a well-established brand.
So how do you escape the ditches and play your cards right from budgeting to royalty payments and down to vetting the right franchisors?
In this article, I will share with you the 9 most important franchise questions and answers you need to sort out when talking to a franchise sales representative for your success.
Get started down below.
#1. Will Or Have You Done A Market Study For My Projected Franchise Territory
Now, this is seriously important for a lot of reasons. For one, knowing the area within which you will or have been authorized to establish will give you hindsight to your bottom line. The franchise sales rep must be able to tell you the degree of competition in your territory, the franchisor’s strengths and weaknesses in that territory, and how to establish your territory for configuration. Only then will you be able to decide whether to stay or to keep looking. And just so the franchisor doesn’t conduct a market study for their third parties’ franchise territory, find out why from the sales rep.
#2. Any Promised Support? Evidence?
Buying a franchise has a lot of potentials for both risks and benefits. Does it make sense to diminish the risks? Yes, and here’s an important question you need to ask for your business security; can I expect support in any form from a franchisor if I fall over a financial hurdle later on? Even though I adhere to the franchise operation advice given me? If positive, go ahead and request evidence of such support given to any previous franchisee. If negative, you definitely want to keep looking.
#3. Do You Have Any Useful Nugget That Has Proven With Result For Previous Franchisees?
Regardless of which franchisor the sales rep is introducing to you, find out what are the 4-7 unique requirements for running a successful franchise partnership as suggested by the said franchisor. Ask about the common traits shared among the franchisor’s most successful franchisees and likewise, the common trait shared among the failed ones. This saves stories that touch.
#4. Success-Failure Report?
The said company may have a stable positive cash flow report year-in-year-out but that isn’t the big picture really. What you should rather be concerned about is the ratio of the company’s successful franchisees to the failed ones. Over the past 5 years, have they been able to maintain a growing large percentage of successful third parties and a decreasing or zero percentage of failed third parties? If yes, then you want to sign off on the deal. You definitely have greater chances of massive success ahead.
#5. Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) Termination?
Inquire about the business’ FDD termination. If they do have one, drill into the bottom to find out why. Though an FDD termination can be a good reason for you to pause as a potential investor, in most cases, it’s a blessing in disguise. How do I mean? Well, here’s a scenario. Company X owned and managed by Mr. A has just received FDD termination due to Mr. A’s sudden illness or death. Sickness and or death have both been agreed upon by Mr. A and the Government to be the criterion for FDD termination. But then you notice that the new manager has a better past record compared to the deceased. In this case, you may just want to overlook that FDD termination.
#6. Any Franchisee Financial Information?
A reputable franchisor who is 100% confident in its partnership success should be able to disclose its third parties’ financial record to a potential investor. So go ahead and ask to zoom in more into how promising the partnership under consideration is. For the franchisor that doesn’t franchisee’s financial results, request for both past and present expense and cost data as alternatives. If neither of these was disclosed to you at the end, call it a no-no.
#7. Advertising Funds Administration?
Since y’all are coming under one umbrella, the same advertisement covers y’all. So, it makes sense to make inquiries about that. Questions you should ask include; in what fashion are funds raised for advertisement? Will you be a part of the contributors? If yes, what’s the cost? Getting answers to these questions from different franchisors will enable you to make a guided decision as to who to join hands with. Needless to say, also inquire about how the raised funds are used and the average ROI on the investment of those funds.
#8. Dispute Management? How?
To be realistic, and I do mean really, disputes are inevitable even in the smallest circle with a common goal. What rather makes the difference is a dispute management strategy. Does the Franchisor have a special body for the resolution of disputes between investors and the Franchisor? How unbiased, impartial, and unregulated is this body? Are there any past records to fall back to for a confirmation of the relevancy and performance of this body? What process does this dispute management body undertake? These are the most important questions to ask a franchise sales representative as a part of your research.
#9. Networking Strategy
How are franchises placed across the markets? Is there a fundamental unbiased networking strategy set in stone? Are franchises just placed in the market to promote the brand or your interest is given a concern? Are you able to contribute to the decision-making process of in what state, country, and market you are placed in? Knowing these things will only prepare you for the worst.
How to find franchises currently recruiting new franchisees
If you are interested in becoming a franchisee, it is essential that you understand where to search for franchises currently recruiting new franchisees. You can visit Franchiseek for franchise opportunities. This website will help you search through the latest franchises for sale.
Conclusion
A great way to grow a new business is to join hands with a well-established and fast-growing brand. And the franchise is the best way to go. To help you to make a guided choice I have shared some of the most important questions to ask a franchise sales representative as a part of your research. I can only hope this helps at least one person. Learn more about Franchising.
