It is fairly common for people who are considering franchise ownership to look at a directory of franchises, or magazine lists of “top” franchises. (I put the word in quotes because a key norm often to become “top” is….how much advertising did you buy? Many in the industry are severely skeptical about these lists. I am one of them.) Is that really a smart way to find a franchise that is a good fit for whom you are and what you want? I do not think so.
A good analogy is how one selects a house to buy. No one goes to a broker and says, “Give me a list of every house you have for sale.” I read once that at any time there are 60,000 residences for sale in Chicago metro. Does anyone want a list of 60,000 residences? Rather, first the buyer’s criteria are selected: how many bedrooms, how many baths, how many square feet, quality of local schools, transportation, size of garage, etc, etc. Only then does the buyer make the visit to the real estate broker.
We do something similar: we learn the client’s business history, business skills and education, business goals, lifestyle ambitions, desired important aspects of the business (venue, hours, employees, industries to be considered or avoided), liquid capital, desired income, etc. etc. Only then can we make an intelligent recommendation of businesses that seem to fit what our client has just told us they want. We are not guessing. We are not “selling.” We are recommending based on what the client has just told us. Then, if there is interest, we are referring…to the franchisors. We are the franchisor’s talent scout. We coach a client on how to effectively interact with the franchisors, and how to research or “validate” by interviewing franchisees. We can later refer the client to funding sources and franchise attorneys.
If the client and the franchisor feel it is a mutually beneficial partnership, we get a fee from the franchisor. The smart franchisor is very careful who they let into their system. If an employer makes a bad choice of employee, they can let the person go. If a franchisor makes a bad choice of a franchisee, they have a problem, but the “problem” has a 10 to 20 year contract. Not so easy to fix! Franchisors like to work with FranNet because we refer ONLY clients who seem to be a good “fit” for their system.
What FranNet does is identical to what an executive recruiter does. The client gets a profile of the desired executive-to-be-hired, finds qualified candidates, and refers them to the employer. We have profiles of the successful franchisees in various systems, find qualified candidates that fit the profile, and refer them to the franchisor. If they “click” we get a fee.
A client needs to be willing to invest about 20 minutes filling out forms and reading a few educational materials to have a deeper understanding about owning a franchise. After a thorough consultation, the client ends up with a business model that they helped create as a result of the consultation and a few vetted franchises that fit their ideal model. This FranNet process is very efficient use of time!
My services cost nothing! It is a very smart way to get focused only on appropriate, vetted and quality franchises, rather than blindly looking at lists to see what “feels” good. We want our clients to have lots of data to make an intelligent and sound decision.
By Gerald P. Moriarty, FranNet Chicago
