Franchise Buying Guide

Steps Involved in Investigating a Franchise Opportunity

Before You Begin: You've carefully evaluated yourself. You know what you need to find in a business to match your preferences and desires. You have a picture of what the future will be like for you as a business owner. Now you just need a process to investigate individual franchise companies and determine if they fit perfectly into your plans.

The first thing you need to keep in mind in your investigation is that it is a process of mutual elimination for both you and the franchisor. You might find exactly the franchise you're looking for on the first try but that is highly unlikely, unless you are using a consultant like FranChoice to narrow the search for you. You also understand that it is unlikely that any one person contacting the franchisor will turn out to be a great match for them. Therefore you are both trying to determine if the fit seems right from the beginning of the investigation.

Each step in the investigation will require more time and effort on both your parts and provide greater detail until you reach the point where you each have sufficient information to make an informed business decision about whether this is a match that is ideal for both parties. If either party comes to the realization that this is not the right match, they simply inform the other party and move on.

Step 1. General Information Request

The franchisor will begin by providing you with overview information on the company (typically a brochure and CD/video/web link package). You should read the information provided, view the videos, and check out the company's web site. In order to accurately assess whether or not this opportunity is of preliminary interest to you, you should plan to spend a minimum of 3-4 hours on this stage, for each concept you investigate. At the same time, the franchisor will often ask you to provide them with additional information (by filling out a questionnaire) to determine if you have the general characteristics they are looking for. Assuming that each party is still interested based on this information exchange; you will proceed to the next steps.

Step 2. The Uniform Franchise Offering Circular

This document, commonly referred to as the UFOC, is the F. T. C. mandated disclosure document that gives you a wealth of information about the franchisor. The form and composition of the document is standard with any franchisor and must include information on a variety of topics of interest to you. The major subject areas include:

The history of the franchise and its officers and directors.
A complete description of the business to be franchised.
All costs and fees that you will be subject to under the agreement.
All obligations of either party to the other during the term of the agreement and thereafter.
Any relevant litigation history of the company or its officers.
Any business failures, ownership transfers, franchise agreement terminations or other potentially adverse information relating to the success rate of the existing units in the system.
Audited financial statements for the previous three years for the franchise company.
A list of the existing franchisees.
A complete copy of the actual franchise agreement document is usually attached to the UFOC but may be provided under separate cover at the option of the franchisor.

A few franchisors also include an earnings claim in the UFOC document. Though they are not required to do so, this can be a real time saver for you if it is included. Even if it is included in the UFOC, it is still imperative that you discuss this subject with franchisees during your fact-finding calls and visits.

You will carefully review the UFOC document and note any questions or issues that the material raises for further discussion with the franchisor. You may also choose to involve outside advisors to review material you are not familiar with.

The Franchise Offering Circular

Step 3. Evaluating the Franchisor

As you begin to evaluate specific franchise opportunities, you want to be sure you look at every aspect of their business in order to make the most informed decision possible. Listed below are the general categories you should investigate, some sample questions to explore with the franchisor and links to some supporting articles that pertain to the category.

Overview of Franchisor

How long have they been in business?
What are the backgrounds and levels of experience of the key executives?
Describe the company's growth pattern - are they on track or varying from plan? Why?
Are there any pending lawsuits currently, or any past judgments against them?
Are there any bankruptcies in the backgrounds of the company or its officers?
How are disputes between franchisor and franchisee resolved?
How many locations have closed in last 12 months? Reasons why?
Has franchisor terminated any franchises? Reasons why?
What is the length of the franchise agreement and under what circumstances can it be terminated (by either of you)? What are the renewal terms?

Why a Good Franchise Agreement Can Be Your Best Friend

Territory

Have you been offered any sort of a protected or exclusive territory?
What are the terms surrounding exclusivity?
Explore the franchisors plans for expansion in your area
Will you have any rights of first refusal within or around your territory?
Does or will the franchisor compete with you within your area (with corporate owned locations)?

Financial

What is the franchise fee used for?
What other fees will apply?
What is the total projected initial investment?
What additional financial obligations will there be after the initial investment?
Does franchisor provide financing for any component (construction, equipment purchase, etc.)?
Is franchisee required to purchase any products, etc. from franchisor? If so, what is cost impact of this compared to not purchasing through franchisor?
What sort of financial information does the franchisor provide back to you (corporate financial statements, location performance figures, trend analysis, etc.)?
How are current units performing, financially?

Corporate Support

What level of support does the franchisor offer for feasibility studies?
What level of support does the franchisor offer for site selection?
What level of support does the franchisor offer for store design?
What level of support does the franchisor offer for location construction?

Operational Items

Does the franchisor have field staff to support you? If so, what is their agenda and plan for frequency of visits and level of support? Is there an additional cost for this service?
What sorts of reports are required and what is the frequency?
Explore how computer systems in the field tie to corporate (or not), and the level of technological sophistication of the franchisor.
What are the parameters surrounding items/products/services you may sell?

Training

What training is provided as part of the franchise fee?
What is covered in the initial training?
Where is training held?
What advanced and ongoing training is available?
Is there a cost to ongoing training programs?

How to Evaluate a Franchise Training Program

Marketing

Explore the degree to which the franchisee can use the franchisor's registered trademarks, service marks, logo's, etc.
Is there any sort of organized marketing program?
Are there additional fees to be paid into local/national marketing funds?
Is participation mandatory?
What is provided for any fees assessed?

Evaluating a Mandatory Marketing Program

Step 4. Interviewing Franchisees

This step is often referred to as "validation." The franchisor will provide you with names and contact information for franchisees for you to contact. The most valuable source of information on any franchise system is the existing franchisees. You need to plan on calling and, when possible, visiting a number of the existing franchisees during your investigation. It sounds almost trite but whatever you find the prevailing attitude of the existing franchisees on any issue to be, it would almost certainly be your attitude on the issue as well if you decide to become a franchisee. Visit with a sufficient number of the existing franchisees to ensure you have a sense of the prevailing attitudes of the group.

Though you want to find the overwhelming majority of franchisees to be happy and supportive of the franchisor, it is important to try to find an unhappy franchisee during your investigation. When you do, not only listen to the complaints but also try to determine what makes this franchisee different from the rest. If you find you identify with the positive ones and feel the negative franchisee is not at all like you, then you should be fine. If you find that you are more like the person who is unhappy however, this is probably not the right franchise for you.

The following list covers the principle areas you want to investigate during these calls:

Training Programs - You need to determine how well the initial training programs and support prepared the franchisees for opening and running their business.
Opening Support - How easily did the franchisor make the process of getting the first unit open and operating? Was there assistance in site selection, lease negotiation, construction and design assistance, financing assistance, permits or any other factors unique to getting this business up and operating?
Ongoing Support - You want to know how effective the ongoing support services of the franchisor are in terms of helping franchisees deal with the problems that come up in the running of their business.
Marketing Programs - Most franchisors collect marketing dollars from every franchisee into a pool that is spent to promote the brand. You need to know whether the franchisees are happy and supportive of the way this process is handled. Note: this is typically the area you will find the most complaining about in any franchise you look at.
Purchasing Power - Does the franchisor use the collective buying power of the total system to get discounts on supplies and inventory beyond what an independent operator could achieve? This factor is one of the biggest advantages of joining a well run franchise system and will offset much of the fee cost associated with being a franchisee with an effective franchisor.
Franchisor/Franchisee Relations - Determine what the franchisees feel about the franchisor in general. Is the franchisor supportive, caring, focused on their success, responsive, effective, organized, and trustworthy? Make sure you have a good feeling about the values of the organization and that they are consistent with your values.
Investment - The UFOC will give you a wide range for the investment required in the business. Use the franchisee discussions to narrow that down to a reasonable and conservative estimate of how much capital you will need to be successful in this franchise.
Earnings - It is critical that you have a strong sense of just where the average unit is in terms of earnings. You should know the answers to the following questions: How much money does the typical unit make given a specified length of time in business? How soon does a typical unit start making money after opening? What is the range of answers for these questions? If you are simply not able to determine these answers to your satisfaction in your research, do not settle! Tell the franchisor of the problem and that you cannot proceed unless you have these answers.

Sample Validation Questions

Step 5. Meeting the Franchisor - "Discovery Day"

At some point in the process of investigation, you will want to have personal meetings with key personnel of the franchise company. This might be possible in your local market or you may need to travel to the headquarters of the franchisor. Many franchisors facilitate this need by holding what are referred to as "discovery days." These are structured events where you can go to a specified location and know that all of the key people from the franchisor will be available.

Be sure to get to know those people you will be working most closely with in the building of your business. We would expect the President of the company to be an impressive person but that's not who will be answering your call when you have a problem. Find out who will be providing the operational support and training directly to you and form an opinion about their competence. Make sure that any remaining questions or issues you may have are addressed at this meeting.

Step 6. Making a Decision

You have now finished your investigation and have all the information you need to determine if this franchise is right for you. It either is or it isn't, and you'll know which it is. In either case, it is time to make a decision and move on. If this company has everything you wanted, do it. If it doesn't, eliminate it and go to the next one.

The Fear Factor of Buying a Franchise

Congratulations! You have chosen your franchise and are excited to get started. Once you have signed the franchise agreement, you will find that each franchisor has a process that you will follow in order to get your business up and running. The article below contains some general information you may find helpful as you get ready to prepare for the opening of your business.

What's Next: Moving Ahead With My Franchise

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