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How to win gold when you buy a franchise

Sarah Stowe

If you’re inspired by excellence then you’ll want to be the best. And that means getting the right team around you.

BUYING THE FRANCHISE

Anaylse your strengths

Are you a sprinter or better at long distance? Will you want a business with a three year term that you can get up and running and then sell, or are you more suited to a longer term opportunity with the chance to renew for further terms?

Consider what your skill set is, and how that can best be applied to the successful running of a business.

If you’re a one-woman dynamo then play to your strengths and look for an opportunity to take the lead. However, team players might prefer a role that sees their aptitude for support and encouraging others achieve results.

Find the potential

Which activity is most likely to reap the rewards you are looking for? Play to your strengths and then look for the sector that is going to give you the best chance of success.

Right now healthy eating, wellbeing, children’s education, financial services, aged care are all predicted to be pockets of growth for our demographics over the next 10 years and beyond.  But you might prefer to be utilising your tech skills in a mobile setting, or have a passion for pets.

Find the service sector that’s right for you but make sure you select the top business in that arena.

Align yourself with winners

No-one wants to join the losing team right? Winners have achieved their success for a reason. It’s worth finding out what a franchisor attributes the brand’s success to, and if franchisees in the system agree.

Work out whether the winners in the group are exceptional, and would achieve whatever they did or whether the whole network has a solid gold experience.

You want to join a business that knows how to win, not find out the shine fades after a short time.

Know who you’re working with

You want to understand who is heading up the organisation and what skills are shared on the management team.

Checking out the franchisor makes sense. You’ll be buying into a business – so it’s your money at risk – so of course you want to believe in their visions, and in their plans for reaching their goals.

Consider whether the philosophy and culture of the organisation sits well with your beliefs and principles.

Remember the Australian swimming team found itself under the spotlight four years ago at the London Olympics? Now the culture and team spirit seems to have been transformed.

How you get to your goals is important, so ensure you are well-matched with the franchise ethos.

Look for experience

Of course brand new franchise systems can be successful, have a fantastic product or service, and their franchisors can bring a fresh approach to business.

However, experience does have its benefits. If you invest in an unknown entity, you’re taking more of a risk – great if you’re up for that – but if you want to follow in the footsteps of those who have been there, done that, got the medal, then an experienced franchisor and established brand can show you how it’s done.

Source a support team

And part of that is the team around you. Very few top athletes get to the podium without a strong team behind them – and that usually starts with family support. Get your personal network behind you and committed to your success before you start to look for an external team.

A strong franchise support team includes business development managers focused on your success, head office management and customer service, a good IT department, excellent marketing executives who understand your needs, and of course fellow franchisees who can provide vital mentoring.

What do the experts say?

Athletes who get strive to reach the peak of their sport understand the importance of good advice. And for those standouts who command sponsorship packages with legal and financial ramifications, advice is paramount.

Before you commit to a franchise, make sure the franchisor isn’t believing its own press. 

It can be hard to see the reality but important to check with other franchisees, and independent advisors, that this opportunity really is all it sets out to be.

It’s imperative to recognise the value of independent financial and legal opinion on a business investment. Go to the experts in the franchising field – it’s money spent wisely.