How to Franchise a Business

Franchising could be the ideal business model to help you expand your business. Franchising allows you to replicate your current success by allowing investors to ‘buy’ your brand name and system in exchange for certain amount of fees and royalties.

This knol about franchising your business mainly explains to you the 9 issues you should take care in order to franchise your business. Here is the recap of the 9 issues:

1. Franchise Operations Manual – This is the blueprint for a franchisee to run their business. The more detailed, the better, no matter how simple things are.
2. Pilot Operation – Although you are already running a business, you need to make sure it will still operate at arm’s length. Before offering your franchised business to public, you should test the system within your own business or store, at least one.
3. Franchise agreement – The Franchise Agreement governs the relationship between you and your franchisees and is an important source of protection for your business.
4. Franchise Sales Document – You need to think about the type of franchisee (persons) you want attract to your franchise business – The right message in your sales document will help you achieve it.
5. Franchisee Training – You need to decide what training your franchisees will need, how to train them and who will actually carry out the training.
6. Franchise Investment Costs – The amount of initial fee payable by the franchisee needs to be clear, and also the level of ongoing payments from the franchisee to you.
7. Recruiting Franchisees – You will need to produce a franchise sales document outlining your system and what is expected from your franchisees, and also establish a recruitment process.
8. Franchise Management and Support Staff – They will usually be responsible for selecting franchisees, and providing the ongoing support and guidance that is essential for the franchisees to build their business.
9. Professional Advice – Always ask for help, from both online and offline professional advice and franchise information offered by a franchise consultant, accountant and solicitor.

For more detailed explanations on how to franchise a business, please visit the knol.