Franchising POC

It takes immense discipline and fortitude to survive a franchisor’s bankruptcy. It’s a good idea to have a plan to minimize any potential losses in revenue and reputation, just in case such an unfortunate circumstance arises. When armed with a plan, you’re more likely to avoid disaster and consequently keep your business afloat.

The following are tips designed to help you get through franchisor bankruptcy:

-Heed warning signs: Hear a rumor? Investigate it. You do not want to find out the hard way i.e., through a third party like a customer or the paper that the franchisor is bankrupt, since doing so can compromise your rights and interests. If someone murmurs bankruptcy, be on the alert. The worst case scenario is that you determine that the rumor is no more than a rumor, and business resumes as usual. Some signs are very subtle, so pay attention. For example, if your franchisor is collecting advertising money from you but you don’t see any advertising happening, be on guard.

-Have a crisis communication plan: Make sure you have a public relations campaign that includes a crisis communication strategy preferably, a strategy that includes several contingencies. For instance, if your franchisor goes bankrupt, the media and customers will be wondering if the business is in jeopardy. You want to be able to craft a quick response.

-Be sure to stay in touch with the local media: True, newspapers and media generally go straight to corporate headquarters for information but don’t let that deter you from establishing your own relationships with writers, reporters, producers, and news directors. This way, you’ll be in a better position to field inquiries should disaster strike.

-Keep a list of alternative suppliers: Occasionally the initial problems occur with suppliers who may be nervous about getting paid. Moreover, if the franchisor can’t provide supplies, a franchise must look elsewhere. Develop a list of viable and trustworthy suppliers to prepare for a possible distributer catastrophe situation.

-Maintain a stash of supplies: Your franchisor declaring bankruptcy could very well leave you with an inadequate amount of supplies. By keeping a surplus of items you may need, you can avoid this scenario.

-Ensure that the community is aware that you’re independently owned: While you don’t necessarily need to regularly remind your customers that you’re independently owned, you do need to establish your business as a separate entity from all the other franchises. This can be accomplished by either letting fellow business owners know or becoming involved in the community. You want your business to feel as local as possible, because customers tend to favor locally owned businesses over nationally owned ones.

-Get the support of fellow franchisees: Moral support from your colleagues even if they’re also your competitors never hurts. In fact, helping out your fellow franchisees in times of need could ultimately mean the difference between success and failure. If the distance between you and other franchisees isn’t too great, you may be able to share supplies, which would help everyone.

-Consult a lawyer specializing in franchising: Consulting an attorney who has expertise in franchising could end up being invaluable in the case that your franchisor goes bankrupt. The time and money you put into hiring an expert is, simply stated, an investment in your future. A lawyer can educate you about your rights and help you concoct the right business plan for your business. You owe yourself this and more as a business owner.

Franchising business is most often linked with food industry as there are many successful food brands that have touched new heights of success with the help of franchising concept. Years back, food franchise brands like McDonalds, Subway and Pizza Hut started their business in a very small way but today these companies have become a household name. Today McDonalds, Subway and Pizza Hut have an international identity. If you have a food business what should you do to grow a food franchise business of such scale?

Well, if you are an owner of a popular and successful food business, you can easily start your franchise business. Here are some key points to help you understand your business and franchising concept:

Evaluation of your experience: Your food franchise business can only be successful if you as the owner have the experience and zeal to take it to the next level. Evaluate your business concept and your own abilities in an honest way before jumping to a conclusion.

Business concept must be worthy: It is not necessary that if your food business is popular in your locality it will enjoy the same level of success in some other location too. Hence, you need to devote ample time to research properly to find out whether your food business can actually be franchised or not.

Concept must be unique:The market is already flooded with many popular food franchise opportunities. So, it is important for you to make sure that what youre offering is unique as compared to what your competitors are dealing with. This will surely help in ensuring good flow of customers.

Go for healthy infrastructure: Before launching your food franchise business concept build a healthy infrastructure. Here you will have to make investments to make attractive manuals, standardized recipes, local store marketing, and operations expertise but these investments will ensure the success of your food franchise concept.

Be ready to face challenges: When you plan to start your food franchise, you need to be prepared to face end number of challenges in the beginning. There will be vast differences in the business trends in your local market as compared to different locations. You need to research everything properly to come up with a consistent and universal business proposal that suits the needs of different markets.

Choose franchisees smartly: The reason behind the success of any leading food franchise opportunities is the devotion and ability of their franchisees. One wrong step by one of your franchisee can spoil the reputation of your brand. So, you need to choose your franchisees after proper evaluation.

Set a target: Create a strong and reasonable strategic plan that identifies the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities of your food franchise business. Also try to come up with short term and long term goals of your business to help you remain focus in your business venture.

Work towards customer expectations: Your customers are the lifeline of your food franchise business. Hence, always try to provide the best customer experience above and beyond all competitors. If you can so then there is no one can stop you from achieving your business goals.

Keep these tips in mind to start your food franchise business to enjoy sure and instant success.

Most people want to own their own business. If you are one of them, what could be the kind of business would you want to put up? True enough, many people quit their present jobs in order to have their own business. Despites the elements of the unknown, having your own business is very rewarding. However, because many of the businesses do not succeed during the first few years, deciding on which type of business to venture to is difficult to do. In order to avoid experiencing a failure in a business venture, many would-be entrepreneurs turn to buying a franchise.

What is a franchise business? A franchise consists of a string of businesses such as restaurants, convenience stores, business shops, gasoline stations among many others. Many people are now venturing into having their own franchise business because of its many advantages. Of course, where there are advantages, there are also disadvantages, which can make many prospective business owners to think twice about their decision.

Before making the big decision of buying a franchise, here are some pros and cons that you might want to study and consider.

The Pros of buying a Franchise business

When you are someone who would like to go the way of opening a start-up business, it will definite take time, experiments, money and even disappointing results before a business can really take off and make a profit. On the other hand, a franchise business already has a fool-proof method for success. If you acquire a franchise, you are provided with ready marketing and promotional materials and tools and other strategies that are sure to draw customers.

Franchise business already has a customer base to regularly patronize it. Perfect examples of franchise businesses which have established customer base are 7-Eleven and MacDonald’s. If these are your franchise business, you will taste business success soon enough.

The Cons of Buying a Franchise Business

Even if you are a franchise business owner, rarely do you call the shots. Franchises have very strict rules for the franchisees to follow. For example you may want to apply a certain type of promotion and advertisement for your franchise or perhaps you might want to increase the prices. You cannot do this on your own without the franchise’s prior consent. The franchise’s corporate department is the one to make decisions on all aspect of the franchise business.

Franchise business is an expensive business. There are exorbitant start-up costs and franchise fees for franchise owners to contend with. There may even be monthly fees to be paid for the business support and advertisements. Many franchises also require that aside from loans from banks, prospective owners should also put up and invest their own money.