Looking to Franchise Your Business? Let’s Get Started

Ashtons Franchise Consultants explain the important role that a development plan and an assessment plays when you’re looking to franchise your business.

“It is imperative to take time to look closely at the financials and establish the revenue streams for you as a franchisor,” Nick Williams – Managing Consultant, Ashtons Franchise Consulting.

The golden thread that runs through every brand that the Ashtons team has developed into a successful franchise is that they have started with laying solid foundations. This begins with a comprehensive data gathering by us and the development of the assessment and high-level franchise blueprint.

Why carry out an assessment?

In looking to expand your business, an assessment is the most important investment in the process of setting up a franchise. The twin goals of the analysis are for an Ashtons franchise consultant to study the business and its market assessing suitability, and to identify what modifications may be required to ensure its smooth transfer to a franchise concept. The analysis by our franchise consultant will identify the operation’s systems, corporate strengths and relevance in other markets.

There will be aspects that are vital to the success of the business, which should be built into the franchise concept. There will be elements that must be tailored to ensure that the franchise relationship is fair and profitable. There will also be elements that will not affect the franchise either way. The analysis will recommend whether the latter be included or removed depending on the competing costs involved.

We give open feedback as to the suitability of the business, and its capability, to make progress in expansion by franchising.

Ashtons Franchise Consultants

When you engage us to conduct an initial assessment, we consider all aspects of your business. Normally within three to four weeks of a first meeting, your consultant will present and discuss a detailed considerations report. This will help you to crystallise your thinking in all the essential areas that will be developed to ensure that your franchise achieves your goals.

Having identified the best way to proceed, provided the outlook is promising, (there are normally three ways to franchise your business), we then recommend a suitable tailored work programme and budget requirements.

This thorough process will allow you to reach a fully informed decision and identify the most practical and profitable route for the benefit of your own company, as well as your future franchisees.

The Development Plan

When analysing why franchisors fail it is often not because their product or service was unappealing to customers or clients but simply because they chose the wrong approach in terms of offering the franchise to the market. It’s imperative to take time to look closely at the financials and project and establish the revenue streams for you as a franchisor, as well as for your franchisees, to evidence a worthwhile reward for you in return for all of your activities, as well as providing your franchisees with a return on their investment of time, ability and money.

Once you have settled on the format of your franchise business, it should be possible to map out the franchise development growth strategy and engage professional advisers to ensure that you keep heading in the right direction regarding details that need to be considered and developed before launching.

The Risks

There are risks in expanding any business and in franchising; your responsibility is to create a win-win strategy so that both you and the franchisees succeed.

Moreover, creating a franchise offer is entirely different from normal trading activity in relation to your original business. In fact, you are about to embark on running a completely new business, focusing on helping others to succeed using your model, and with your support, training and ongoing development. It is very much a people-and organisational-centred operation. For that reason, we do advise that you take professional advice at the outset, as we find that companies frequently underestimate exactly what will be involved in creating and developing a successful franchise.

There is no substitute for real experience, hence the phrase ‘if you fail to plan, then plan to fail’ is often accurate!