5 Tips for Selecting the Right Franchise Consultant

With thousands of franchises to choose from, it’s nearly impossible to research every potential opportunity to consider if you’re thinking about opening up a franchise. People often will think about opening a franchise that they have a connection with – a restaurant they frequent, an education brand their child is enrolled in or a boutique fitness franchise they love. However, just because someone knows about a brand doesn’t mean that it will have the best return on investment or be the right fit for that person’s goals and skill sets.

That’s where a franchise consultant and his or her services come in. These business matchmakers offer advice, industry knowledge and bring a variety of options to the table that a franchise prospect wouldn’t have necessarily considered.

1851 Franchise connected with a consultant at the Franchise Consulting Company who is also a Lawn Doctor* franchisee, Jonathan Bankert, and with a Right at Home* franchisee, Jim Ryan, who was placed in his franchise with the help of FranNet consultant Mike Hall, to learn more about the process. Below, you’ll find their top five tips for selecting the right franchise consultant.

1. Find a skilled consultant who asks a lot of questions

Bankert is a former detective with a law enforcement background. Now, he channels that experience from six years of interrogating people into interviewing them during their franchise exploration process.

“What I do with my clients is I interrogate them,” Bankert said. “It’s not threatening, but it’s the technique of asking the same question two times in a different form, and I’m looking for consistency in the response. I’m going to ask a lot of questions and a skilled consultant needs to do that so they can thoroughly understand why this person wants to own a franchise or their own business. I work to uncover the underlying issues.”

Ryan was first introduced to FranNet at a session through IBM. FranNet consultant Mike Hall came to speak to a group of employees to discuss franchising opportunities and what the next step in their career could look like.

“It was the perfect timing to leave IBM and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to play slave to the corporate world for ten more years,” Ryan said. “A friend told me maybe I should do something I want to do, so I decided to continue speaking with Mike to explore franchise options.”

2. Make sure the consultant is truly listening to what you have to say

In FranNet’s process, the consultant provides a franchise prospect with a proprietary tool, a Personal Franchise Assessment, which is similar to a personality test. Once that’s completed, the FranNet consultant reviews the results and will narrow down franchise opportunities for the prospect to begin researching. FranNet then uses that tool as the jumping off point to dig deeper into a person’s goals and skill sets.

“Discussion starts with the interpretation of results,” Ryan said. “Mike asked me questions about what I did and didn’t want to do. I wasn’t interested in a food franchise because that lifestyle was crazy from what I saw when supporting McDonald’s at IBM. Our conversation resulted in him telling me this is what you’re best suited for and here are the areas you might look into based on my personality.”

Bankert echoes a similar discussion process.

“I’m going to listen to what you say you want, look at your background, skills, what you want out of it, exit strategies, affordability, financial structure and what makes you tick,” Bankert said. “Then, I’m going to make recommendations. For example, this company would resonate and this also. I’m just there to make the recommendation based on your personality and affordability issues.”

3. Ask yourself if they’re providing you with the best guidance to help you achieve your goals and vision

Bankert says he specializes and customizes the entire process for the candidate to maximize efficiency for the candidate to hone down their search.

“I need to ask questions pertinent to what makes you want to own a franchise. I listen to the client and also offer guidance in the interview process,” Bankert said.

Ryan not only liked the process, but he says he would recommend it to anyone else considering buying a franchise.

“I’d recommend working with FranNet particularly if someone is as unsure as I was and needed direction,” Ryan said. “Obviously Mike’s done this for many, many people and I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do next. I dabbled in a couple of smaller businesses and I needed to verify this was the right thing. I kept taking baby steps in that direction until I was reassured.”

4. Check if they will help you validate the brands you’re considering

“We actually help you with your due diligence steps,” Bankert said. “Once you find a company you like, we help you validate.”

Similarly, FranNet consultants are accountable to coach and help a candidate through the investigative process, as according to the company’s Client Bill of Rights.

5. Ensure they are a reputable and ethical firm that will provide you with respect, open and honest communication

Bankert mentions if someone is considering working with a broker, they should be sure to look for a reputable firm that follows the International Franchise Association’s Code of Ethics.

FranNet’s Client Bill of Rights also confirms that each consultant will adhere to the IFA Code of Ethics. Furthermore, each consultant is committed to putting the needs and interests of the client first, and being honest and transparent throughout the entire process