1. Brand name recognition: As you are franchising with an established brand, the products and services you are going to offer are already recognized in the market. Thus, growing a wide customer base won’t be difficult. Even if you are offering something new, the brand awareness among customers will help you to capture the market. See how many of the 400 franchises represented by First Prize Franchise that you recognize.

2. Enviable track record of the franchisor: Looking at the success-rate of your franchisor, you can certainly determine how you will benefit from its operational system. If you see that existing franchisees are quite successful in selling the offerings of the business, then you have reasons to join the franchisor.

3. Risk-rate is quite less: Franchised businesses enjoy a higher success-rate (Almost 90%), because all the operations are carried out under a proven business model.

4. Business start-up process is faster: Under the effective guidance of the members of the support team of your franchisor, you can start your business quicker. The associates of the franchise will assist you throughout the start-up process.

5. Requirement of low investment amount: In order to favor aspiring entrepreneurs, several franchises take minimum front-end investment. This adds to the popularity of these franchisors.

6. Effective financial assistance: Some franchisors make necessary arrangements to help franchisees in getting loans from leading financial institutions. Thus, monetary crunch won’t become a problem while initiating franchising business. brandEXPANSION offers several preferred finance partners to help you get started.

7. Easy inventory management: Besides utilizing your franchisor’s inventory, you also get to know about managing it effectively.

8. Dominant purchasing power of franchisor: Getting goods and services at a lower cost will benefit you considerably in your franchising process.

9. Training programs conducted by the franchisors: The comprehensive training programs held first at the organizational headquarters and then at your franchising location will help you to go a long way in your business.

10. Continuous business support: From helping you in selecting the ideal site to providing you with effective marketing assistance, you will be guided throughout your franchising process.

So, are you prepared to take the plunge in this exciting world of franchising? Get in touch with brandEXPANSION associates to know more.

• Understand the fact that franchising is a TEAM effort. So, do everything to be part of a team. Volunteer in any franchise-related program. For example, if your franchisor is looking for a franchise location to try its new line of products, then you can volunteer your location. It will give you a chance to offer something new to your customers. And that will generate more revenue for you, apart from providing you an advantage over others in the system. Another good way to volunteer is helping the franchisor in training the new franchisees. Most top franchises will have an on-site training week; why not make your location that site? Along with sharing your knowledge, you will be paid handsomely by the franchisor as well.

• If you have a new idea regarding the day-to-day operation of the company, talk about that to your franchise representative. But keep in mind a few factors; firstly, it should have an impact in other markets as well.And make sure you’ve thoroughly tested it and can articulate why it works better than the previous program.

• The best franchises have reached their present status because they took their franchisees into confidence. If you have developed a new product for your store that you think will sell well, talk to your franchisor. In fact, you likely are bound to talk to them, if you want to make any change in the product or service that is being offered by you. Since the franchisees are in the front-line, most franchises listen to them regarding these things.

• If you have to make a complaint, be very polite about it. First, point out the good things about the system (or any person) and then tell them the reason for your dissatisfaction. If the franchisor (or the representative) come down to your location, make sure your house is in top shape to prove how efficient you are! Then you can make your point of dissatisfaction clearer to them. Also make sure you have a genuine reason to complain.

• Don’t cross swords with your franchisor every time it proposes any change in the system. Trust the business sense of your franchisor; it’s the reason why you started a franchise under it in the first place.

• Lastly for effective communication, know whom you should talk to in the franchise system. For example, in new franchise opportunities, it’s possible to directly contact and talk to the founder of the company. But best franchises in today’s business are often big conglomerates run by shareholders and board of directors. In that case, good rapport with the master franchisee and the regional director is must.

The first person whose advice you should seriously consider is your own self. Be very sure about your dreams, aspirations and limitations. You must know what you like and how much you can work in order to achieve your goal. Then start asking those people who you think know you the best. Ask them to give an unbiased criticism of your idea. You can also talk to people who have achieved the “Great American Dream” of owning a successful business.

You will be surprised by the range of the answers you will get. Here are some of them:

Good Advice: Believe in your dreams and ability: People who will see your inner resource will always encourage you to go out and try your luck. But they will also point out the problems ahead as well as your drawbacks.

Bad Advice: Don’t take risks: Many people will try to dissuade you by saying that business is a risky thing and you should not disturb your present life by taking such challenges. But remember that nothing was achieved without risking something, so stay clear of such naysayer.

Good Advice: Look for various avenues while finding finance: Any experienced businessman will tell you that they have got financial backing from unexpected quarters.

Bad Advice: If you fail to find financing, drop the matter: If you listen to such advice, it means that you are still hesitating on whether to be a business owner or not. If you become depressed because one door has closed, then you will never make it big in the business world.

Good Advice: Build a network among different groups in your field: In the world of business, you cannot always make it on your own. So, join the groups you think are pertinent to your business and spread the business-card around.

Bad Advice: Fight it out alone, nobody will help you: The persons who give you this kind of advice are cynics who only see the glass half-empty. True, you have to work quite hard for your success, but people always help a hard-working, honest businessman.

Good Advice: Remain true to your core value and expand slowly: Honesty and integrity is essential for being a successful businessman. Never compromise on the quality of your product/service and take each step slowly but steadily.

Bad Advice: Expand as fast as you can and when dire time comes compromise on your quality: Nothing can kill a business like this piece of advice. If you expand just for the heck of it without proper planning and infrastructure, you will collapse like a house of cards. And compromising on the quality of the products/services means that you will lose your core customers and future business possibilities!

The best advice you’ll ever get is to just get started. Peruse some of the top franchises and get started on your path today.

If we take these relationships as a reference point, then the relationship can be defined as a mixture of all these. Like an employer-employee, a franchisor and the person starting a franchise are bound by an agreement. But unlike them, a franchisor doesn’t pay the franchisee any money; rather it’s the other way round. Moreover, the franchisees are owners of the locations. If we consider the relationship between two partners, then some similarities are there too. For example, while taking a decision, the franchisors discuss that with their franchisees and take them into confidence while implementing changes. But if we call them partner, then at the very best they are very unequal partner, because the franchisor obviously has more power and rights regarding the running of the business.

Now, if we look at from the point of view of social relationships, the franchisor- franchisee relationship does look like that of a husband and wife sometimes. Like them, both the franchisor and the franchisee have to work as a team for the franchise system to work. But unlike them, the franchisor puts some restrictions on the franchisee (which any partner will resent in a marriage!). In that sense, the relationship is that of a parent-child, especially when franchisors have the rights to admonish any franchisee who breaks the rules of the franchise agreement! But, it’s not a relationship that is for life; most franchise agreement lasts for ten years, after which it’s up to both of them whether they want to continue it.

Hope this answers your queries regarding what it means to have a relationship with the franchisor. Start a relationship with one by exploring your franchise options.

• Choosing the wrong location: Business is all about location, location and location. You cannot run a fitness center in an area where senior citizens live, nor can you run an up-scale restaurant in a lower middle-class area. Hence, choose your location only after conducting extensive research on the market. Several franchisors help the franchisees in this regard, so always ask whether your franchisor has any such program. Another important thing that you are supposed to consider while selecting a franchising location is rent. High-rent can shoot up your budget considerably, so keep that in mind as well.

• Being on a shoe-string budget: The FDD and the representatives of the franchisor will give you a rough estimate of how much money you will need for your new business. But it’s not a final figure; always add 30% to 40% extra to it. You will never know where or when you will need that extra money. At times, business needs some time to start due to factors unforeseen. The extra budgets will keep you afloat during this period.

• Letting the size give a complex: Many times small, new franchisees feel threatened by a celebrated player in the market. That, in turn, hinders their growth to some great extent. Hence, never let your size be a negative point; instead, utilize it as a selling point! Small companies can bring in more personal touch in their services and carry out the job faster than big, established players. So, try to make use of your business-size.

• Not budgeting enough: This is another major mistake that a lot of franchisees make. But, there are various departments where a new franchisee can cut cost significantly. Lease-negotiation is one such area, which an intelligent franchisee can turn to his advantage. Also, bargain on the equipments; if possible buy second-hand apparatus. Do not start with a huge number of staffs (unless required), but hire as you grow. Try to employ your family members in the beginning in order to cut cost. The money saved here can be used in effective marketing, which is more important in establishing a new player.

brandEXPANSION can help you determine the right franchise opportunity at no cost to you. What are you waiting for? Add another mistake to that list: letting fear keep you from even starting a business.

On the other hand, a master franchisee has to sell the franchise concept within the stipulated geographical area. He can develop one or two units by himself, but the focus is more on offering franchise business for sale rather than starting a franchise unit. The area developer actually pays to open more than one location, so gets a reduced franchise fee. Like regular single unit franchisees, he also gets exclusive territory, if the franchise agreement promises one. The territory can be anything from small parts of a city to a large city itself. If you have the finance available for investment, area development can be a great choice of starting a franchise business.

If you want to buy a franchise of any top franchises, you should know that most of them offer area development programs. Here, the advantage is that you will get preferential help from real estate agents and suppliers, because you are opening more than one unit. Moreover, besides the obvious benefit of getting more profit, you can also rotate unused items among your various stores, especially if you are from the retail-sales franchise category. You can also use your man-power the same way. Franchise companies also prefer area developers; because it takes away their problem of finding good franchisees in each and every location and the company can sell more than one location in one go. But your success as a franchisee will largely depend on your choice of franchisor. If your choice is wrong, you will be saddled with more than one unit with no viability. So consider all these factors before you opt for area development program.

• First of all, you have to research your market to make sure whether that concept will be viable. For example, you go to a seaside place and visit a franchised seafood restaurant and fall in love with the concept. Now you want to open a location in your Midwest city. But have you thought how you are going to get the fresh ingredients in your city? Hence, before jumping into the bandwagon, check out whether the concept can be localized and adopted in your area. There must be a good demand for the product, otherwise you won’t succeed. If it’s adoptable, look into the competition in the market. If it’s fierce and your franchisor is comparatively unknown, then you have to fight hard to establish your business. But, if you are ready to take the risk, go ahead with your plan of starting a franchise.

• The next thing you should do is researching about the company. Ensure whether it’s registered in your state. Also, inquire whether it has any master developer or area developer for your area. Even if they don’t have one and you think that the concept has an excellent future in your area, then you can definitely think about being one! Of course, go through the regular steps of due diligence before signing any franchise agreement.

• If you are bringing a new upcoming franchise opportunity in your city, you have to pay special attention to the marketing aspects of the business. You need to generate enough curiosity among the potential clients to turn them into loyal customers. It’s here where your experience as a satisfied customer will come in handy. Highlight such facets of the concept that appealed to you; if you had liked them, others too will also love them! Also, make sure that your franchisor is with you in this marketing campaign. If your product is something unique, then the concept itself will generate enough hype before the actual opening of the store. If your retail/food franchise has competitors, then focus on the point that you think is an improvement over the others. Soon, you will observe that you have lured enough customers to your new store and scripted your own success story!