Knowing when to slow down your growth is a skill and it is not an easy call to make. Growth is high adrenaline, high emotion and for most, why we started franchising in the first place. But growth with no strategy or guardrails can be dangerous.
The British Franchise Association reports that more than half of UK franchisors consider international growth a priority.
We need to slow down our international expansion, in terms of geography. Over the course of my nine years operating Football Fun Factory, I have made the mistake of going too fast a few times. In doing so, I have learnt to recognise when and importantly, how to slow down.
Here is the scenario at the moment. We have just announced a franchise in Spain. We currently have people from three other countries in our ‘discovery phase’. Those au fait with international franchising and the legal challenges around this will know that each new country will incur two major costs; money and time.
We have set up the legal process for Spain, including a Spanish agreement and the necessary Franchise Disclosure Document. We have also completed this process for The Netherlands, where we plan to launch next. Having already invested in extending our IP worldwide, we are in danger of overextending ourselves in terms of the time and monetary investment required for this growth.
Most importantly, we need to offer our franchisees 6-star service when it comes to franchise support and this cannot falter. We do not just want to grow for the sake of growing, we want to enter new markets and penetrate them in a similar way to how we have in the UK. We want to create opportunties for children and families and make a big impact like we have done at home.
We have been franchising for almost 7 years in the UK & Ireland and have grown a network of c. 140 franchisees. This has been incredibly hard work, but also incredibly rewarding. We want to do similar in other countries, but we simply cannot do that simultaneously.
With this in mind, we are planning for launches across three countries. We will keep speaking to people from other countries and keep exploring more opportunities, but we will also do this on our timeline. We will advise that we need to plan for 2027, rather than moving ahead immediately.
In the past, I have got excited by opportunities and said yes to too many things, all at the same time. In doing so, I have suffered and exhausted myself in the process. My business partner, Jonny, and I have previously gone into overdrive, just to make things happen. We have always found a way to make it work, but we do not need to do that now. We need to know our limitations and ensure that sustainability sits at the heart of all that we do.
Whatever your business or industry, the same applies for you. Knowing when to say ‘yes’ and when to say either ‘no’ or ‘yes, but later’ is a skill that I have developed over time through trial and error.
Pushing things out and doing them on your terms is also a great way to create demand. For example, if a great franchise prospect in Germany stepped forward, I would say… ‘great, but let us plan for spring 2027, because we have three other countries to launch in’. The fear for some is losing the prospect, but the right people will understand and respect your business and your principles.
When it comes from a place of not being willing to drop your standards and wanting to ensure the best possible franchise support, then the right people will understand.
For you and your business or work, carefully consider which opportunities to throw yourself into, which ones to avoid and which ones to slow down. It is a skill!
