We’ve all heard about the tried and tested SMART acronym which outlines a strategy for reaching any objective. SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and anchored within a Time Frame. Now Owen Barton, Franchise Recruitment Manager at Drain Doctor has adapted the well-known method to help you investigate your next Franchise Opportunity.
For the purposes of this article, the acronym stands for Sector, Me, Area, (Company) Reputation and Time.
Sector
Some people’s first point of focus and research might be with brands that catch their eye with an enticing advert. Others may start to investigate sectors and industries that they are familiar with, or ones where they may have worked in before. There are potential franchisees that see a gap in the market in their area, or are drawn to an opportunity that can help them achieve their lifestyle or financial goals. There are many sectors to consider within the franchise industry, from Food and Beverage, Health and Fitness to Property Services. Choosing which sector suits you best can be difficult and it’s ok for you to have an affiliation to more than one.
But considerations should be made to factors such as; Earning potential – does starting a business in this sector give you an opportunity to earn what it is you want/need to earn from it, and can it be scaled up or duplicated? Market conditions – has the sector you’re investigating got a history of being susceptible to political, economic, social, technological, legal and/or environmental conditions (learn more about performing PESTLE analyses of sectors and businesses at https:/pestleanalysis.com).
Let’s take the Gym Sector throughout 2020 for example. In a year that no-one could have predicted, gyms closed their doors from 20th March 2020 to 9th July 2020, that’s around 16 weeks of potentially no trade for franchise owners in that sector. Compare that to the Drainage Sector, a sector that continued throughout that period and who’s staff were considered essential workers. Drain Doctor and its franchise owners were proud to keep the infrastructure of the nation flowing through such a challenging time.
Finally (and linking seamlessly to our next letter ‘M’ (Me)), you should reflect upon you as a person and how you’d operate in that sector – if it’s an owner operator business model, can you see yourself operating in that sector for the foreseeable future? Are you passionate about it? If it’s a management franchise, the sector can be less of a consideration and rather the roles of the business owner should be reflected upon – marketing, management of staff members, administrative and financial responsibilities – are one, two or all four of those roles where your strengths as a business owner lie?
Me
You’d have already reflected somewhat on yourself, your vocational circumstances (earnings, position, progression, commute, etc) your financial position (savings, stocks, property, etc) and spoken with your family before you even consider purchasing a franchise. When investigating franchise opportunities, you and the franchise development managers you work with should review these with you and throughout the process continue to consider whether your skills, traits, goals and financial position meet with the criteria and values of the Franchisor. There are many different methods which can be used to best match a candidate to a sector or business, and whilst a franchisor might provide assistance with brand, marketing, operational systems, software, finance, management support etc. These method’s increase the likelihood of a positive franchise relationship which always lubricates the wheels of the train to success. But ultimately, starting, running and succeeding in business comes down to the work ethic, resilience and ‘grit’ of the business owner. Something no personality test can predict.
To assist with personal reflection and to give you more of an understanding of franchise ownership, you may find this certificate on the BFA website helpful – https:/www.thebfa.org/join-a-franchise/prospect-franchisee-certificate/
Area
Many franchise operations use exclusive marketing or operating territories to minimise cross franchisee competition from within their brand. There are several factors to consider when it comes to the ‘area’. First consideration is of course, does the franchisor use exclusive areas for you to operate your franchise? If not, why not and does that mean you are competing with other franchisees to win business. If so, is the area you live/work in available? Do you need to be in, or close to the operating/marketing area for your new business? You’ll find that with most owner operated or management franchises the franchisee should reside in or near to the area so they can maximise the efficiency of their operation (and ultimately their lives away from the business too). That is the view taken here at Drain Doctor, we want local franchise owners running a business which is an essential service to their local community, with the added benefits of systems, support and reputation of a national brand with nearly 30 years of experience.
(Company) Reputation
Franchise candidates normally collect information on several franchisors in a few sectors before finding one that suits them. When looking into each brand you’ll of course consider many factors which will determine whether that brand is right for you. Those factors might be reflected by the brand’s reputation, of which there are three areas you must consider.
First, you might consider the Franchisors franchise industry reputation; a great gauge for this will be their membership status with the British Franchise Association (BFA). To become full members of the BFA, franchisors must prove a sustained trading, financial and franchising record over a period of time. The record of Full Members on openings, withdrawals and failures (if any), as well as their trading and financial performance, is subject to an initial assessment and periodic reaccreditation. With nearly 30 years of growth in the UK, and as full members of the BFA for many years Drain Doctor have proven that they have a history of success and continue to commit to conduct their franchise model in line with the BFA’s Code of Ethics.
Secondly, each franchisor that you investigate should give you the chance to speak with their franchise network. The brand, systems, processes, software and support might all look fantastic at first look. However, it’s important to compare the Franchisor’s system and how it’s presented in theory, with how it’s implemented in reality. The only way to do that is with the franchisees themselves. At Drain Doctor, after an initial meeting and assessment all candidates are given the opportunity to speak with our franchise owners.
Finally, and arguably the most important opinion, is that of the customer. You should research customer review sites such as Feefo, Trip Advisor and/or TrustPilot.
Drain Doctor are proud to call themselves ‘The Most Trusted Drainage and Plumbing Franchise in the UK’ with an industry leading score of 4.8 out of 5 on Trust Pilot – you see more customer reviews here – https:/uk.trustpilot.com/review/draindoctor.co.uk.
Time
The final consideration in this model for a franchise candidate is one of time. Again, this can be broken down into a few factors. This may be time commitment – are you looking for a full time or part time franchise? Franchise agreement length, some franchise agreements are 5 years, some are 10 and a few might be longer. Does that length suit you and your envisaged goals? How about time for ‘break even’ or ‘return on investment (ROI)’ – this can subjective, depending on the definition used by the franchisor. You may want to consider that some models might break even quickly but be limited on ultimate returns, some require re-investment for future scalability and growth which may impact early business returns.
Here at Drain Doctor we take the time to help candidates work through a process of mutual evaluation ensuring we learn all about your background, motivation and goals whilst giving you the chance to learn as much as you possibly can about our sector and business model, so that both the you, the individual and we as a company can make a well informed decision to proceed as franchise partners…or not as sometimes the case may be.
This article comes courtesy of Drain Doctor – You could build a scalable multi-van management franchise, in a recession resilient industry with The UK’s Most Trusted Plumbing and Drainage Company.
