5 Things Start-Up Franchisors Should do to Win

Starting a franchise is an exciting time for any brand. Before any franchisees sign on the dotted line, there is a lot that goes into making a franchise a success.

Bill Paige, vice president of marketing for Francorp, shares a few things a start-up franchisor should do to launch a winning franchise concept.

Put together a comprehensive program

One of the most important things a franchisor can do is set up a comprehensive program. This provides the franchise brand the opportunity to get a complete and thorough message out to the consumers and potential franchisees.

“If you're serious about becoming a franchisor, you want to put together a comprehensive program where that all aspects speak to each other,” said Paige.

Paige suggests working with a single firm to create a franchise plan. If a franchisor chooses to outsource multiple steps to various people, the plan is at risk of feeling disjointed and not complete.

Create a roadmap

There are no shortcuts when it comes to setting up a successful franchise organization. That’s why start-up franchisors should create an action plan and stick to it.

The plan should include things like creating a business plan, making sure everything goes through the right legal channels, putting an operations manual in place, and setting up a marketing strategy.

Once there is a program laid out, Paige suggests making sure to do everything in order and check it off along the way. This ensures franchisors know what has been accomplished and what is coming up next in the process.

Allocate enough time to the franchise

Creating a successful franchise takes time, money and resources. If you don’t have all three there is a chance the business won’t succeed.

“Many times they have the time and money to franchise, but a franchisor is trying to work in another business during the franchise process and they end up spreading themselves too thin,” said Paige.

Before a franchisor takes on the responsibility of franchising it’s crucial they have the resources it takes to make it a success.

Follow registration laws

Before a franchise sets up shop, it’s important to be registered in the states the franchise conducts business. However, that doesn’t mean where it’s located.

Franchises need to complete the federal registration process, and any additional state registration to cover every location the business is performing transactions.

Set up a marketing strategy

After putting all the time and effort into creating the franchise concept, the franchisor should create a marketing strategy to get the word out about the brand.

“Marketing is often the first thing you need to get your business going,” said Paige.

Although marketing is not always an instant return on investment, a sound marketing strategy provides franchisors with a way to keep communication about the brand going even in down times.

Nick Powills, CFE, founded No Limit Agency in 2008 and serves as Chief Brand Strategist for the Chicago-based firm. No Limit is a full-service communications agency that establishes and elevates brands by bridging Public Relations, Social Media, Marketing, Advertising, Digital, and a lot of creativity, to best strategize well-rounded and successful campaigns for 50+ global franchise brands. By presenting visionary ideas and building real relationships, No Limit is able to create effective media branding strategies to help companies grow. Nick currently leads a staff of writers, media strategists, designers, social media experts and digital producers in an office think-tank where brands are humanized for strong, compelling media stories. Prior to starting No Limit at the age of 27, Nick spent four years working at a franchise PR agency where he mastered the art of building rapport with media outlets and creating newsworthy pitches for earned media placements. He holds a Bachelor of Journalism from Drake University in Iowa.

5 Things Start-Up Franchisors Should do to Win

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Nick Powills

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