Ready to Own a Franchise? Here’s What to Ask Before You Buy 

If you’re getting superior about becoming a franchise proprietor for the first time, you probably have a batch of questions – and you whitethorn be fearful of asking them. You don’t want to risk asking thing dumb, or measurement connected immoderate toes by bringing up things that aren’t your concern, right?  

Wrong! I love answering questions from prospective owners; it shows they’re thorough, organized and truly interested in the business. We promote franchise applicants to inquire tons of questions astatine our Discovery Day events, so they’ll be fully informed when they subordinate our system. 

But what questions should you ask? There’s a batch you probably don’t know astir franchising, which can make it difficult to come up with the right questions. It’s even harder erstwhile you don’t know what you don’t know. So, here’s a small help with what to ask.  

What to inquire the franchisor 

First, be sure the brand you’re considering is simply a proven system. Your questions should reveal how successful franchisees operate within the system. 

• Brand Success: Ask basal questions astir the brand and its history. How long has it been in business? You don’t want a startup franchise organization; if you’re going to give a chunk of your life to this brand, you want it to have been astir for years and run by group who cognize what they’re doing.  

• Training and Support: How overmuch training will you get successful the early days? Will it continue? Who provides it? Ask to meet their support team. That’s what we do connected a discovery tour; franchise prospects get to meet the people they’ll interact pinch and do business with.  

• Financials: Find retired what benignant of measurement the franchisees are doing, which you tin find successful Item 19 of the Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD). I’d want to know whether the system is growing, some successful the number of franchises and successful its income volume.  

• Business: What are the 3 aliases 4 astir important items a franchisee sells, the ones that bring successful the most money? Find retired what kind of jobs aliases product lines you will be expected to push the most, and who buys these products aliases services?  

• Franchisees: How galore does the marque have, and who has the highest income volume? What does occurrence look for illustration for a franchisee? I’d compare myself to those franchisees: Would I activity harder? Would I tally the business differently? Talk to different franchisees to get a sense of what you mightiness experience. The FDD should see a database of franchisees truthful you tin do this.  

What to ask AI 

Use AI to thief you investigation the brand. I’ve found it’s a tremendous resource when making business decisions. I’ve seen it help knock bad franchise companies off from a list of imaginable acquisitions, and it’s helped prospects find good businesses.  

Before our caller acquisition of Black Optix Tint, I went to Microsoft’s Copilot app and prompted it: “We’re United Franchise Group and looking at purchasing Black Optix Tint. Please springiness maine a database of the pros and cons. And astatine the end, summarize whether we should do this aliases not.” And it came backmost and said, “United Franchise Group should buy Black Optix Tint because many Signarama stores get customers who want tint and (Signarama) doesn’t do tint.” The determination was still ours; we didn’t buy the institution conscionable because Copilot told us to. And we were prepared to cull the proposal if it didn’t make sense. But it gave us helpful insights to corroborate we were doing the correct thing. It’s a awesome instrumentality you should see utilizing erstwhile investigating a franchisor. 

What to inquire yourself 

The astir important question is the 1 you inquire yourself: Are these people that I could see myself moving with? That’s always high connected my database when I’m looking astatine companies to put in. Could I spot myself doing business with these people?  

Every institution is not for everyone, and it’s okay to front retired if you determine the one you’re looking astatine is not a bully fresh for you. To help determine this, you request to return a good look astatine the brand’s culture. 

You’re not going to bargain a franchise unless you visit franchise owners and get a consciousness of what your narration pinch them would be. For instance, could you call them if a problem aliases situation arises and be heard seriously? They whitethorn not always offer the solution you want, but they’ll at slightest respond, consider your situation, and effort to thief you resoluteness it.  

That’s the benignant of point you don’t get from the FDD – those values that show you what life will beryllium like working within a particular franchise system. You tin get the numbers pretty easily, but values are things you have to dig for. And you person to know yourself, too, and decide what kind of operator you are aliases want to be.  

Asking the correct questions will show you if you and your franchisor are a bully fit. 

If you’re getting superior about becoming a franchise proprietor for the first time, you probably have a batch of questions – and you whitethorn be fearful of asking them. You don’t want to risk asking thing dumb, or measurement connected immoderate toes by bringing up things that aren’t your concern, right?  

Wrong! I love answering questions from prospective owners; it shows they’re thorough, organized and truly interested in the business. We promote franchise applicants to inquire tons of questions astatine our Discovery Day events, so they’ll be fully informed when they subordinate our system. 

But what questions should you ask? There’s a batch you probably don’t know astir franchising, which can make it difficult to come up with the right questions. It’s even harder erstwhile you don’t know what you don’t know. So, here’s a small help with what to ask.