Franchising is an effective and powerful way to grow a business. The key to franchising, as with any new business venture, is to approach the idea and business strategy with as much information as possible. In order to franchise your business you have to have a business concept that can be duplicated.
The process of marketing and selling franchises is new and unique to most. There are a few key factors that determine what separates the successful franchise marketers from the unsuccessful ones, notes Christopher Conner, president of Franchise Marketing Systems, which has become a primary organization for providing full-service marketing and sales support consulting to clients in several industries. Some of his clients include Total Gym, Blimpie, Costco, Allscripts, and Romeo’s Pizza.
Before entrepreneurs make that “jump†to franchise their business, Conner offers these following tips to consider:
Set a budget. You have to advertise to attract good franchise prospects. You should put together a marketing budget with two components to it. First you should budget something up front for a brochure, printed materials, a good website and other program pieces that are necessary to attract buyers. Then on a monthly timeframe, start out with a budget for lead generation activities. This can run anywhere from hundreds of dollars a month to a few thousand dollars a month. We don’t recommend that you go into franchising without some kind of a budget for marketing the business.
Have a compelling story or selling proposition for your business concept. What makes you different from every other business out there in the license/franchise/business opportunity world? If you can’t say something to yourself in the mirror that makes you smile, you’re probably going to have a hard time getting other people to find it interesting. Develop this value proposition in the form of an elevator pitch and nail it down before you start talking to people. If there is one thing that I know about franchise buyer leads, it is that they have a short attention span….you must articulate it quickly or you will get hung up on.
If you don’t like making a lot of sales calls and “working the phonesâ€, you will need to budget for a sales person to do this for you
. Franchising is a sales business, don’t let anyone fool you. It is a contact sport and it takes hundreds and hundreds of phone calls to land franchise partners. A good franchise sales person will make anywhere from 75-150 phone calls per day. In many instances, I have personally called a good prospect over 40 times just to get a meeting with them regarding the franchise opportunity. It is easy to monitor and 99 out of 100 times, the sales people who create the most activity are the ones who close deals. You have to burn up the phone lines to see the revenue come in.It’s okay to be persistent and to put yourself out there. Remember that you are probably one of several franchise opportunities that a buyer is considering at any given time. If you do not leave an impression on that buyer, they will very likely forget about you. Be aggressive and tell them what you are good at and how it will benefit them!
When you approach the idea of “how to franchise my business,†be ready to market and sell your franchise from the outset and you will have a much better chance at being successful, adds Conner.