December 8, 2024

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Is Your Business Franchisable?

If you own a successful business – perhaps with even more than one location already – you may have wondered if your operation was suitable for franchising. This arrangement holds that a prospective franchisee would pay a fee, and subsequently royalty payments, for the right to operate a business under your name, brand, and likeness. In exchange for acting as the franchisor, you must supply the franchisee with the means, training, and ongoing operational support to replicate your success. Considering your circumstances, does this sound like a possibility? If so, read on. There are specific roles and responsibilities at stake, both for you as the franchisor and prospective franchisees in your system.

Franchise Your Business” by Mark Siebert is a book published by Entrepreneur Press, and considered one of the leading tomes on the subject. Essentially, it’s a how-to guide that references a business growth strategy accomplished through franchising. Chapter three, which shares the same title as this blog post, gets to the heart of the matter as Siebert presents a checklist: whether your business is viable, marketable, cloneable (more on that later), and supportable.

Related: Franchising Your Business, Part 1: Making the Decision to Franchise


Is Your Business Suitable for Franchising?

For a business concept to work in a franchise system, it must solve a problem, be scalable, successful, and in demand. To participate in franchising, a business needs to have a replicable process for the allocation and distribution of a product or service, as well as an established and proven business model. Also, any prospective franchisees in the system must be able to follow it like a roadmap to success.

To assess the viability of franchising your concept, consider the following: is it the product or service itself? The brand? The operations and systems in place? If a business owner is considering whether to franchise a particular concept, these answers should come naturally. The next consideration is scalability. Imagine for a moment that your business could be replicated in another area. Could you train others to duplicate your success? Could they maintain the consistent delivery of your product or service? If you employ vendors, could they accommodate expansion? Lastly, are you capable of implementing a training program that could ensure the consistency of your operation? Siebert reasons that the key to franchising development is the business’ unique selling proposition (USP). Meaning you’ll require a singular value proposition that elevates your brand into a specific niche market to achieve success.

Related: Franchising Your Business, Part 2: Building Your Franchise