Franchise Expo in NYC is the biggest in the world
So what are “tire kickers?”
People thinking about franchising for the first time and just kicking the tires to learn more about it and are gathering info. We hope they also take part in some of the symposiums and the educational sessions that are taking place around.
What about the non-tire-kickers?
There are others who are more serious investors and come prepared to get a list of five or ten concepts and have narrowed down their search. A lot of franchisors are setting up one- on-one meetings with leads that they’ve had in their pipelines for weeks, months, even years in some cases. Opening a franchise is not something to take lightly. It requires serious thought, consideration, research, consultation with attorneys and doing due mdilligence to decide if a particular franchise is the right fit. You shouldn’t come to the expo saying “I’m gonna walk out of here with a business.” Walk out of here with a better, deeper understanding of what franchising is and which concepts might be worth following up.
Any advice for prospective franchisees?
Do your homework. Do the research. There’s a lot of great online tools on franchise.org to learn about franchising 101. Talk to existing franchisees and former franchisees who’ve been in those systems and whom you are considering investing with.
Figure out what your exit strategy is. Buying a franchise isn’t something that you have for life. It’s something you’re going to sign a contract for a period of time. Maybe 10 or 20 years in most cases. Think about how you’re going to pass that on and what you want to do after franchising.