Congratulations! Get ready to learn about franchise opportunities that could be just the right fit for you.

 A few more things:

One of the best steps in your franchise evaluation will be meeting with other franchisees so you can learn about:

  • What a day in the life an owner truly looks like

  • Their personal/professional experience

  • Company culture

  • Training

  • Support

  • Key differentiators

This information will help you begin visualizing yourself as a franchisee.

Over the next few days you will receive a few documents that are designed as coaching tools to help you during this discovery process.

  1. How to read a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD)

  2. Validation Questions for Franchisees (list of questions)

  3. A Great Book on Franchising - Self-study materials (optional)

  4. What to expect during Discovery Day (last step in your evaluation)

In addition to these steps, we will introduce you to funding companies so you can explore the best options. This is typically a brief call to discuss your personal financial situation, investment level & whether or not you plan to utilize an SBA loan or 401K business financing.

 
 

The Overview

  • Develop a complete understanding of each franchise opportunity and the business model associated with the opportunity. 

  • Most calls with franchise representatives are about an hour long. If more or less time is required you should be informed ahead of time!

    Individual franchise representatives will reach out to you within 48 hours of the presentation call. Their objective will be to introduce themselves and invite you to schedule the first call in their process which is typically an overview call.

  • The first call will take approximately 1 hour. Generally the process goes as follows: personal introductions – getting to know you, explanation of their franchise development/evaluation process, overview of their franchise business model, initial Q & A, and finally scheduling the next call.

  • These calls will focus on other aspects of the business model (sales, marketing, customers, technology support and training), Q & A, and ongoing.

  • As you establish a working relationship with each of the franchise representatives make sure that you inform them of the time commitment you can make and the pace you would like to keep. If you are hungry for information and would like to move quickly through evaluation, suggest that you would like to schedule more than one call per week.  If you have limited time per week or have scheduling conflicts on the horizon, let them know this as well.

    Always be prepared for the calls that you do schedule. If you have to cancel, communicate in advance out of respect for the other person’s schedule. 

  • Expect to hold a brief weekly call for questions and/or updates with Liz. Please be thinking about a recurring day/time to for our meeting. My assistant, Erin, is available to help get these meetings scheduled.

    This is a mutual evaluation process! It is not dissimilar to the sequence you would go through for a serious job interview. Simply put, while you are evaluating the franchise company, its people, its systems and its potential, the franchise representative is determining whether you are a good fit for their franchise. The best advice is to go into each call prepared to ask questions and learn! 

  • During the Evaluation Stage, take time to review the information on the franchisor’s websites, YouTube videos etc. and conduct your own research in your market area, and competition.

    Each franchise representative will provide you with additional reading materials and even assign tasks aimed at increasing your understanding of their opportunities.

 
 

The Steps