Franchise or Training Package ? Posted by briteways.com

Hi Gina

It really depends a lot on the business, how you want it to progress and whether you think it suits the franchise model.

Going down the franchise route requires a lot of preparation and is in no way an easy option.  I see from your website though that you already have training programs in place, marketing, kickstart plans and support, which does go some way towards have a semi completed model.

Quite simply, you are already franchising to an extent so what you are asking is, "Can I take this a step further?" And in answer to that question:  If your business is successful for yourself and your trainees, then yes you can take it further and go down the full franchise route.

I know several franchise consultants who are very experienced with taking businesses to franchise whom I can recommend, I am sure they would be happy to give you a free telephone consultation if you are serious about going down the franchise route.

Hi Gina

It's interesting that you are considering your own franchise and I've spent a lot of time deliberating this very question myself. A lot depends on how the business is set up initially to support people and one of the things that is clear to me with the businesses that I've supported going through the franchising process (by the way that is not my specialism) is that it completely changes the dynamics of the business. From you being the person who meets the client and takes forward the training, you are moving into a completely different role when you franchise - as the whole culture of the business changes, and that can be the biggest shock. You are no longer in the position of delivering the service you built your business on and what needs to happen is that you completely switch to becoming a coach and marketing support mechanism. The problems are different and the support needed is by no means something to be taken lightly as often people coming into buying a franchise have the illusion that it will be easy as it's a 'franchise' whereas it is still a new business albeit a brand name. I'd recommend that you look at the different models for licensing your business and also decide what level of support you want to offer as this will perhaps give you a clearer picture of the type of license that will suit your business. I hope this helps. Best wishes.

Hi Wendy and Gina

First:  I agree with Gina, it's a great pic!  However what you have done is entered your profile into the wrong area, if you enter it into the boxed editor above the signature box it will display as your profile and not with each post.  The signature area is for adding your name and website link to be displayed after each post you make.

Second: Sounds like you have gone the best route for yourself Wendy, franchising can be an expensive path to take, at least in the initial stages.  It is however possible to bypass some of the more expensive options and draw up yoru own training packages and operating manuals etc..  Many people do this and have small franchisee networks.  However if they current system is working fine then there may be no reason to change it over at all!

Hi

I totally agree with the option of developing own training manuals and materials and it can operate much less costly than a huge franchising fee. Perhaps the huge fees are driven by those people assisting businesses to take the franchise route so they get a higher fee for their initial work (and noooo I don't want a deluge of responses to this as I'm sure that many of you are hard working and huge fees are justified) but I came across someone recently who'd spent all of their redundancy money on a window cleaning business. He basically got a list of names (okay that is where the value lies), logo and 'how to get customers manual' (very thin one)  a couple of buckets, ladder etc. But does this justify a fee of £20,000? I suppose what I'm saying is that people buying franchises need to really look at the 'value' they are getting and also that the business providing the franchise needs to ask themselves 'am I truly giving this person value' and 'would I buy this myself for this fee'?

I am just putting forward this for thought really as come across some great franchises where I've delivered training and been involved with their new franchisees at the beginning. I've also come across a number of very sad cases too, more so in the current downturn and I think sometimes people need to give some real thought into whether they have the skills and experience to actually take on a franchise that is right for them. As you rightly say Mathew is it the people buying the franchise that need to do more homework or is it the franchiser that needs to take more care over recruiting franchisees?

I think in the current market with so many people looking for opportunities when it's difficult to find a job and for some a redundancy package is a huge opportunity to start out something for themselves, it's also a stressful time and when under stress people don't always make the best decisions at that time.

ALSO - I do hope my picture & profile are nto included here as I've been in and changed things - fingers crossed and apologies if they appear.

Best wishes

Wendy