For a company to go down the road of franchising itself there has been a lot of debate as in essence the owners of the organisation have to give up some of the day to day management if they select this method of expansion. It is in the owners best interests that the finest candidates are selected to be franchisees as this will make the most of their decision to Low Cost Franchise.
Sometimes owners of an organisation decide to adopt the services of a franchise company to enlist and select franchisees but in the majority of cases they cope with it within the business. If this is the case it is crucial that they recognise that they are not looking for a carbon copy of themselves. They are presumably confident entrepreneurs who have had the capability to go it alone. What they need to identify for their Franchise Opportunity is a somewhat toned down version. Someone with their skills and drive would almost certainly find it difficult to stay within the boundaries of the rules and would need a lot of maintenance in order to restrain him or her.
So the main criteria for the business to look for when identifying someone to take up their Franchise For Sale are as follows:
First and foremost acertain if they have the investment capabilities in line with your requirements. No matter how perfect the individual may seem if he hasn’t got the investment there is no point wasting time on him by getting into further discussion. This should be a qualifying question for your marketing plan. Whether you’re promoting on line, at a franchise exhibition or in the press do point out that there will be an investment required otherwise you can waste a lot of time merely getting rid of the enquirers who were unaware of the money involved.
Make sure that they have some related experience but ideally not in the exact sector that you operate in. If an individual has already been involved in a similar industry it can be very tricky to get them on board doing things your way. A lot of time can be taken up dealing with ideas that you have already thought about and rejected or that simply will not work for your franchise opportunity. The types of experiences that are likely to be useful to you will vary depending on your franchise sector but typically skills such as people management, sales skills and problem solving will fit in well with most franchise opportunities.
Finally make sure that you feel that you could work with the individual on a quite close basis. There is normally a lot of interaction with the franchisee, especially at the start of new territory and it may even be that you will be the person responsible for their training.
Even after going through this system it is highly unlikely that you will make the right decision for every franchisee that you appoint. It is therefore best before you start the process therefore that you have a strong mechanism for performance assessment and termination of contract so that you are not stuck with someone who clearly not right for your business.