One of the beauties of joining an established franchise is that it combines the freedom of entrepreneurship with the support and security of a franchisor. One of the key deciding factors when it comes to which franchise is best for you is determining what support you truly need and whether the franchisors on your shortlist can guide you in those areas. Here we will cover how to assess yourself and how to evaluate the support system of a franchisor.
Self-Evaluation
It’s important to know your strengths and weaknesses before going into business ownership, especially if you’ve never run a business yourself before. As you consider your franchising options, consider the below self-evaluating questions.
- What am I most passionate about and can this guide me in my choice of business?
- What areas of potential business ownership have I already experienced in my career so far? E.g. leadership roles, marketing, supplier relationship management
- What areas of potential business ownership have I never experienced in my career so far?
- Have comfortable am I with technology and learning new systems?
- What work environments have I been in the past and what have I liked the best? E.g. working alone or freelancing, working from home, working in a team
- What draws me to franchising and what scares me?
Identify your needs
Answering those questions should help you identify where your gaps are and what level of support you would ideally like from a franchisor. You might have identified that you would like a franchisor that gives you support with specific business areas or more general support, for example. Alternatively, you might have found you would flourish in a business that gives you the opportunity to connect with fellow franchisees across the network or you might prefer a franchisor who is on hand to support when you need it but gives you space to run your business.
Gather your facts
Now you know what you need you can begin your research to find out which franchisor would be the best option for you. There are several ways to gather your facts to help you evaluate the support system of franchisor.
You can reach out to the franchisor directly to ask them about how they operate and use the opportunity to be specific about the areas you are most concerned about to see what support they can offer. You can usually organise a call with their recruitment teams to have a conversation about the fit for both sides. You might find there is more support offered from the franchisor than you first realised so it’s key to get all your questions answered before making any big decisions.
This is also a good time to be contacting existing or former franchisees to get their honest feedback. There is nothing greater than the lived experience so gather your facts about the franchisees’ experience at the beginning of their journey in the business and how this developed over time as they built their franchise. This will give you an idea of not just initial support but what level of ongoing support you can expect as you grow with your desired franchisor.
You may also want to do some research into what opportunities your desired franchisor gives franchisees to come together and share ideas if you are someone who would like connections with both the franchisor ‘head office’ team and your fellow business owners. Likewise, you may want to discover what policies and support the franchisor has around inclusion and neurodiversity if these areas key for you as well.
Make your decision
Once you have done your research, this should bring you closer to making your decision. Deciding what franchise to join is not always easy but understanding what support you need and which franchisors can provide that for you is a huge step forward.
Whatever route you decide to take for your future of business ownership, one thing is certain. By choosing to work with an established franchise, you will not be alone. The support offered by franchisors is ultimately there to empower you to grow your business and achieve your goals.
This article comes courtesy of Drama Kids, a provider of drama classes for children across the UK and worldwide.
