Five insightful questions to ask when considering a Franchise

Deciding whether to invest in a franchise or indeed, which franchise to invest in, is a huge decision! You should take your time and make sure you get all of the key information

Deciding whether to invest in a franchise or indeed, which franchise to invest in, is a huge decision! You should take your time and make sure you get all of the key information. With this in mind, this article is designed to help you ask the right questions to gain all of the insights you need to make an informed decision about your future business.

Before we kick off, if you are reading this, you are likely to be interested in investing in a franchise. That’s a smart decision, as your chances of success, your earning potential, your work-life balance and your future prospects, are in good hands. Franchising can change lives and as you look into various franchise brands and opportunities I’m sure you’ll find one that will positively influence yours.

Having been a franchisor for five years and having spoken to hundreds of prospective franchisees, it’s easy for me to put myself in your shoes and consider the type of questions I would ask if I were looking at making a franchise investment. So here goes! Here are my top five questions to ask a franchisor:

1. What is the earning potential, who is the highest performer and can I see their profit and loss sheet?

2. How many failures has the franchise seen and why did they fail?

3. Why are the top performers as successful as they are?

4. How has the franchise system been developed over the past 5 years?

5. What are the future plans and innovations?

I could go on and list lots more questions to ask, but this list should give you a flavour of the types of things and enable you to come up with your own. To help, here’s a framework of how to draw up a list of questions:

What are you nervous about?
What could go wrong?
What do you need to ensure?
What matters most to you?
How will the business affect your personal and family life?

I would recommend drawing up this list before you engage any franchise brands in a discovery meeting, as you will then be fully prepared for your meetings and get the information that you are looking for.

My final recommendation would be to consider questions to ask about things that matter to you personally. For example, if you have a hobby that you take part in or things outside of work, or things that your new franchise will need to fit around such as childcare or family support.

If you ask the right questions, of the right people, you will make the right choice. Good luck with your search.

James Cutting

James Cutting is the Founder of Football Fun Factory, a children's football coaching franchise with the bold and ambitious aim of becoming the world's leading children's football coaching organisation. The FFF has gone all-in on social media content creation and aims to stand out from the crowd with high-quality, engaging, story-telling content produced and published at scale.

James and the Football Fun Factory team have grown their business nationwide by connecting passionate football coaches to the brand and by living and breathing the ethos and values of the company.

Having spent a decade working within a professional football club environment, James created a brand to offer something different to parents of children aged 2 to 12.. The FFF's Founder is a UEFA qualified football coach, turned entrepreneur, and uses this unique skillet to bring football fun to the masses.

James is passionate about supporting other franchise companies and businesses and will be seen at the top of your LinkedIn page on a regular basis, sharing content that is designed to tell his story and help others.