Starting A Franchise Business

If you’re thinking of buying or launching a franchise business, early preparation is key.

In our last post, we took a look at how to choose a franchise and sector.  Once you’ve chosen and as you start preparing to buy and then launch your franchise, there will be a number of other things you need to consider and do, including creating a business plan. So in this post we take a quick look at some of the most important things to start thinking about as you start to plan and prepare.

What do you get for your money?

Before you hand over your money, check what you get in return. Not all franchise packages are the same. It should go without saying that you buy the right to use the franchise trademark, branding and some of the franchise intellectual property but do they provide help with a business plan? Does the package include an operating system, marketing materials, initial training, a designated territory, ongoing support, stationery and materials?

The level of support that is given is vital. After all, it’s one thing being given an IT system and some teaching materials, but it’s a much better package if someone then explains how to use them. 

Immerse yourself

Having established what’s on offer, in terms of pre-launch training and support, engage with it as much as possible. This is really important foundation work as well as a chance to forge some important relationships. For example, your chosen franchise company may provide practical help such as securing funding or writing a marketing plan. But this may also be an important opportunity to meet other franchisees who are either just starting out like you are, or who have a bit of experience under their belt as well as getting to know the team who will be supporting you in the years ahead.  

Marketing and sales

Whether you have previous experience or not, marketing and sales comes with running a business, so it’s a good idea to start thinking about this as soon as possible. A good franchise will provide some material and training but if you’ve never used social media as a business before, it’s worth familiarising yourself with how it works. On the whole, social media is free (there are some paid advertising opportunities) and it has a great reach, so this is potentially one of your most important marketing tools. Similarly, think about what else you might do and what you might enjoy doing. You might want to try a leaflet drop in your area for example, or write an article for your local press.

Similarly, once you have someone’s interest, you do actually have to “make the sale”. With some clients this will be easy, but others less so. This is not about being a pushy salesperson, far from it but you do need to think about the sales process, i.e. what you will say either in person, or if you are having a conversation over social media. And you need to know the process involved for someone that signs up. This can feel like a steep learning curve but it will soon become second nature.

Know your area  

The more you know about the people living in your area, the better. This is for a number of reasons. Firstly, it helps you work out what level of demand you may have for your business, which is pretty important as you start to work on your projections. But it also helps you set the tone of your communications. If a lot of your potential clients don’t have English as a first language, then you need to make sure your marketing is very clear and easy to understand. Knowing your area also helps you know where to go with your marketing. If there is a whole group of people who you think might be interested in your services, and they all hang out in a particular place, then that’s where you should go.

Operations

Something you need to get clear on as quickly as possible is how your business will operate. This will include a combination of things including what are often described as the ‘top level’ stuff and the ‘detail’. The ‘top level’ stuff will include your values and vision for the business. For example, with an educational franchise, your vision might be to give every child in your area a chance to reach their full potential and your values might be kindness, support and integrity. These values should then underpin everything you do.

On the ‘details’ side of things, you will need to plan how you will deliver your business. For example, if you are running one of our franchises, will you run workshops once a week? Twice? Where? What will your billing and admin system look like? How will you deliver feedback? What polices do you need in place, such as safeguarding or a Covid safety policy?

Your team 

With most small businesses, you will need a team, if not immediately, certainly as your business grows. There’s a well-known saying that as a business owner you should be working on your business rather than in your business, which basically means that ideally you should be focusing on growing and developing your business rather than focussing on the nitty gritty delivery. This may not be realistic to start with but it’s worth considering what role you ultimately want to have, the size of team you envisage and how and where you’ll find your future team.

Finances, projections and objectives

We touched on this in our last post and obviously it’s one of the most important parts of your planning. How will you finance a franchise and how much will you need to make from your business? What are the implications (positive and negative) of any borrowing to buy the franchise? This element of your planning dovetails with your objectives and projections, or in other words, what would you like to or need to earn from your business, and what you can realistically earn and by when.

The good news

If all the above seems a lot to take in, then don’t panic. A good franchise operator will help you with most, if not all, of the above. The key point is to start thinking about the above, making plans and doing your research as early as possible. That way, with the support of your franchise, from the moment you make the decision to buy, you’ll be in the best possible position to make it a success.

MagiKats won the Diamond Award from Trustist for Top Franchise 2021 and we are members of the Quality Franchise Association and EWIF (Encouraging Women Into Franchising). We are also top, three-kite rated members of ICAP (Institute of Children’s Activity Providers). If you’d like more information about our franchise opportunities, please get in touch.