Franchising is a fantastic way to start a new business. You have the opportunity to take advantage of an established brand, proven systems, and ongoing support from the franchisor. But to get started, you need to have the right information, and that is where a comprehensive franchise kit comes in.
But what should every good franchise package contain, in order to support the launch and subsequent growth of your franchisees?
For anyone investing in a franchise, having access to the right package of marketing assets, training and franchisor support will be carefully considered. Here is some advice on how to create the perfect franchise kit to attract and support your future franchisees from day one:
Starting point: What is a franchise kit?
A franchise kit is a comprehensive package of information that franchisors provide to potential franchisees. It should include everything you need to know about the business opportunity, from the initial investment to details of the ongoing support that will be provided.
As well as providing a clear list of the requirements to become a franchisee, including financial or operational qualifications, it should also include information on the financial requirements of the franchise, such as the initial franchise fee or ongoing royalties. A large focus will be related to sales, marketing and training assets.
Brand proposition and positioning
A successful franchise requires a solid business plan and effective marketing strategies. The franchise kit should therefore provide guidance on creating a business plan specific to the franchise, as well as information on marketing and advertising support. This could include, for example, details on national advertising campaigns, local marketing materials, or digital marketing strategies.
Fundamentally, if you want your franchisees to be able to effectively sell your brand, product or services, they need to understand it. Providing brand proposition and positioning data to help demonstrate target audiences, and what makes you different from competitive businesses is key. It is important for franchisees to be able to use this to communicate the vision, mission and values.
Brand visual guidelines
Successful franchise brands must have clear brand guidelines in place, from the use of logos, colour palate, fonts, tone of voice and photography guidelines. This enables franchisees to consistently communicate the brand elements at all times in an instantly recognisable and consistent way. This creates familiarity, trust and loyalty from customers, while also ensuring consistency regardless of which franchise you visit.
Our advice is also not to be afraid of auditing compliance with your visuals; brands that are consistent are more successful.
Collateral templates
Providing a range of collateral templates to franchisees will help them to develop a consistent brand look and feel, without recreating the wheel. Think about the most commonly used items, for example menus, point-of-sale, email templates, social media graphics, website pages, business cards and leaflets. Consider creating a portal for all branding material so that franchisees can easily access creative and guidelines, and not have the worry or financial outlay of trying to recreate content or visuals.
Operational guidelines
For new franchisees, having access to best practice operational processes will support them when launching. The creation of an operations manual or intranet will help provide guidance on the policies and procedures that the franchisee must follow to run the business, for example employee management or customer service processes, through to advising on tools to manage key areas of the business, such as using Xero for finance, Slack for communication, Trello for project management or similar. The operational guidelines can also provide access to specialist suppliers, from retail fit-out companies to tax accountants or print suppliers.
Training packs
As a franchisor you will know how best to both pitch and deliver your products or services to customers. By creating best practice training materials you can fast track your franchisees to deliver results, which in turn benefits both of you.
The franchise kit should therefore provide information about the initial training that is provided to new franchisees, as well as any ongoing training opportunities.
Importantly, by encouraging feedback from your franchisees, you will also know what is working for them and what isn’t, meaning you can keep your franchisee kit dynamic and frequently updated.
