Benefits of a Franchise Consultant

There is no question that this is an extremely important component of franchising. However, there are many other equally critical elements. Competent franchise attorneys know how to write agreements that comply with franchise laws and regulations, yet they don’t commonly have practical experience in running a business, let alone a franchise organisation. This franchising operational and marketing know-how is indispensable to avoid costly and unnecessary mistakes. Although heavily regulated, franchising affords you, the business owner, the flexibility to achieve your short and long term goals through this business growth mechanism. Most attorneys don’t have the practical experience to guide you in answering the business questions that must be addressed in a franchise agreement. You know your business, but initially, you lack the franchise expertise to answer these questions effectively. A qualified franchise and coaching firm can guide you through this process.

Here are some examples of issues that your attorney, in all probability, lacks the experience to help you answer.

What type of franchise offering should you have? Should you offer single units? Multiple units and/or territory development agreements? Each one of these offerings is different in operational requirements and results. Determining which one meets your goals before you write your franchise documents is critical.

How much should you charge for your franchise offering? What ongoing fees should you have? A franchise coach can help you determine these fees based on your type of business and franchise opportunity.

How much training are you going to provide to your franchisees? Where and when should franchisees be trained? Who will undertake the training of new and existing franchisees? You may know what information a person needs to have to run the franchised business, but are you qualified to design the training curriculum that assures that your franchisees will have the knowledge to be successful?

The above three points are just examples of areas that need to be addressed in the franchise legal documents. If you can’t answer these questions, your attorney is likely to take the answers from other agreements previously written in your industry. These answers do not necessarily apply to your business or to your goals. Once your franchise legal documents have been prepared, you also need to know how to market your franchise offering, how to find the right franchise candidates, how to close deals, how to train your franchisees, what type of staff you need to recruit, train and support your franchisees, and many more franchise operational issues that only someone who has been there can coach you through.

A good franchise consultant is a trainer and a coach and will prepare you to deal with all these issues so you can become a successful franchisor.