Franchising Trends

Key Elements Needed for a Franchise Business Plan

A proper business plan is vital for any business, whether it’s franchised or not. It’s the blueprint that will tell investors how prepared you are to enter the business field. A business plan is the vision of the proprietor drawn on a paper; it shows where he or she wants to take the business in the coming years. It will also show his or her business perception; as in a business plan, you put in market statistics, trends and competition in your line of work. Hence, it’s essential that you draft a killer business plan.

When you are starting a franchise, you are in a better position than stand-alone business, because you will have an experienced franchisor to guide you in writing a comprehensive business plan. Furthermore, you have ready dossier on the market and future prospect of the business, as these points will be covered in the UFOC (or the FDD) that your franchisor will give to you for reading.

Here are some of the points that you should include in your business plan:

Summary: Though it comes in the very beginning, this very important introduction portion has to be drafted as the last job. You must write the whole plan first and the key points can be taken together and put in such a language that should be engrossing but not over the top.

Management: In this section, you will describe in detail about the qualification of the people in charge of the business. Your biography as well as that of your franchisor will obviously go under this section. People who start a franchise get easier loans despite being a novice, because there are experienced persons in the franchise team who train them in running the business.

Marketing: Now talk about your products/services and how well-placed they are in the market. You have to show why customers will choose your product/service over others in the field. In this section, you will also have to state your advertisement and marketing plan. You also need to talk about your competitors and state how you plan to tackle them.

Projection: The very important question of how much you are expecting to earn will go in this section. You have to be very careful when you present the figures; they have to be given on the basis of actual facts, as anything hypothetical and unsubstantiated will ruin your reputation as a businessman. Also, include all the costs that will be incurred, once you start operating the business. The UFOC of the franchisor, especially if it’s giving earning claims, can provide logistic help, but engaging a competent accountant to help you with this figure is definitely a very good idea.

Finance needed: Even if you are shelling out the money to buy a franchise from your own pocket, writing this section will give you a handy reference point in deciding how much money you will need. Incorporate every kind of expenditure you will be facing including those that can occur incase there’s a delay in opening the business. The more thorough you are in preparing this section; the more successful you will be in managing the financial source for your business.