Many businesses ignore their competition at their own risk. You need to know and understand those that you are competing with. In some respects your opposition will be successful; they have made mistakes that you can learn from, rather than repeat the same mistakes. Top sports men and women and top teams spend a great amount of time studying their opposition and looking for weak points. They do this so that they can make their own game plan to take advantage of any perceived weakness. You need to look at your opposition and look for weaknesses that you can take advantage of. There are teams of sports professionals that study their opponents and track their progress. This saves a great amount of resources – both time and money. Not only...
In this Blog we will outline the final 3 criteria of franchisability that follow on from the previous 2 blogs…. Capital – While franchising can be seen as a lower cost way of expanding a business, that doesn’t mean that it is “no cost”. As a franchisor you will need the capital and resources to implement and run the franchise program. The amount of resources required will vary depending on how you approach this. One obvious way is to purchase documentation from FrankDocs. If a company is looking to sell one or two franchised units, the necessary legal documentation may be completed at costs of £40,000. If you are looking for an aggressive expansion, however, start-up costs can run £150,000 or more. And once the costs of advertising, audits, printing,...
Following on from the last blog post, there are yet more criteria that must be met to ensure that you can franchise your business. Differentiation – In addition to all the criteria in the first blog in this series, like any business you must be different enough to be recognisable and to stand out from the crowd. This can be achieved in several ways and is normally in the form of differentiated product or service, different target market or a unique marketing strategy. Adaptability – is your product adaptable? – Measure how your concept can be adapted from one market to another. Some concepts (e.g., pool cleaning service) do not adapt well over large geographic areas (this franchise would obviously not be viable in cold areas) because of regional variations...
While it is initially impossible to determine the franchisability of a business concept without a significant amount of analysis, there are pointers that give a good indication of the feasibility of a company for franchising and the likelihood that it will achieve success as a franchisor. In this Blog we will outline 5 items and then follow this with other sets of items in the following blogs Credibility – Credibility can be reflected in a number of ways: organization size, number of units, years in operation, look and brand of the business unit, publicity, consumer awareness of the brand, and strength of management, to name the most prominent. To sell franchises, a company must first be credible in the eyes of its prospective franchisees. Transferability of Knowledge – The next...
Who else is entertaining your customers? You cannot ignore your competition. They are out there, whether you like it or not and they are chasing your customers – just like you are chasing theirs. You need to know everything you can about them. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. You can learn a lot from your competition, what works for them and what doesn’t. Most top sports people look at their opposition and learn from them. Knowing how they operate uncovers ways to play their game better and the weaknesses of their opposition. You should study your opposition and look at their progress and initiatives. This can save you a huge amount of time and money. If they try something in the market and it fails, then it’s...
Identify your niche market and find your point of difference. Buyers love choice – but not too much. But how do you stand out in a crowded market place? Standout and be different – but not too much. If all companies in one industry offered exactly the same then they would sell the same product, look the same and have the same customers. Be different and stand out, look different, offer a different product, brand, service. Imagine going to a food hall and every shop sold the same food. Their survival depends on them being different. It offers consumers the choice of what they would like and allows the retailers to compete in the same space by offering choice. They are in same market, literally, but they can all...
Your Brand Oxford Dictionary: Brand:A particular identity or image regarded as an asset Branding: The promotion of a particular product or company by means of advertising and distinctive design: Branding is Everything. Your Franchise will raise and fall on your brand, no matter how much expertise you have, how much advertising you and how much capital you have behind you. We are all brand products and packaging is everything. You are a brand and so is your franchise. Every day people take an average product and brand it to sell at the top of the market. On the other hand, every day, people take a great product, don’t brand it correctly and don’t understand why it doesn’t sell. Many top Companies, Movie Stars, Writers, Sports Stars and Artists pay large...
Unfortunately starting and running a franchise is not a guaranty to untold wealth and riches and there are not guaranties of success. Now, a guarantied success formula would be great, but there is no such thing. But when you look at why businesses fail – certain patterns begin to emerge. Businesses that are aware of theses common pitfalls and failures can structure themselves to eliminate any issues that may cause failure, and therefore raise the probability of successes. A strong and recognisable brand. Many people in the UK would easily be able to name many recognisable brands used in this country. This is a large and communication savvy community where reputations and brands are quickly made and destroyed. If you are looking to start a franchise or to purchase a...
At some stage during your franchise journey you will need to outsource some kind of products or services. These can range from the printing of brochures and stationary, to parts or ingredients and items or ranges of stock. You need to be able to guaranty supply or else you run the many risks with your Franchise and Franchisees. Contract Product Supply is now critical to your Franchise. When sourcing these goods and services make sure that you shop around. Don’t think small. When your Franchise expands you will need a supplier that can expand with you. See what providers are prepared to do for you, don’t be afraid to ask! The more successful your franchise becomes the more business they can expect through you. You are offering potential suppliers a...
The first Franchise has been sold – well done. You have a Franchisee ready to go and keen to get started. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you’re now highly successful and all the hard work is over. In reality, you have just begun! Training Franchisees in proceedures and systems is now very important. You have taken the first of many steps towards being a Franchisor. You now need to nurture the Franchisee or you risk losing the Franchisee and possibly your Franchise – before it’s even taken off. Remember that you and your Franchisee are now interdependent on each other. The conduct and actions of one reflect on the other. You will need to work beside your new Franchisee until you both confident that every process and procedure...
