7 Things That Franchise Buyer’s Want (Part 4)

(In Part 3, I wrote about franchisor support, and how important it is for prospective franchise buyers to get specific examples of how they'll actually be supported, after they write a check for $25k-$30k to you. )

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I hope it got you thinking about how you can demonstrate to your prospective franchise buyers exactly how you intend to provide support, which is a really important reason for them to even consider the idea of investing in a franchise of their own.

Next, I'd like to discuss something that's very important to prospective franchise buyers. This topic may or may not be front and center in the minds of those looking at franchises to buy, but it is there..somewhere in their thoughts.

It's all about the…..

Technology. That's right. Today's franchise buyer's expect you to provide the technology tools they'll need to not only succeed in their businesses, but to dominate their local area. Having access to new technology is increasingly important, also. It's a win-win.

For example, if I was thinking about buying a franchise, one of the things that I would expect to have in my arsenal is great technology. I'm talking about the type of technology that will help me do things a lot better than my "mom and pop" competitor, who's right down the street from me. That's one huge reason that I want to get into franchising; total domination of my market area.

I'm not sure if my view on this (my view when pretending to put my franchise buyer's hat on) is realistic or not, but it's what I would expect to have as a franchisee. What do you think? Would you expect to have terrific technology at your beckon call?

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I was actually able to see some amazing franchise technology first hand, 3 years ago. My wife (and I ) was in the process of redoing our family room. It was in good shape, but is was getting to look quite outdated. (It was actually an addition that was built 10 years before we bought the house.)

I had just helped a great lady by the name of Teresa Kramer, get into business. The franchise she bought was called V2K, out of Denver, Colorado. V2K is a window covering and decor franchise.

We called Teresa to come out and give us some ideas on what do use for our family room's large sliding door. I knew that V2K had some really cool technology, as I had seen their presentation at a franchise convention.

V2K recently bought a competing franchisor by the name of Gotcha Covered, and below is how their technology is described on the company website. (It's the same technology that Teresa used to help us out.)

"Gotcha Covered is not just an ordinary home based window coverings business. We are an extraordinary franchise opportunity with a powerful, overwhelming advantage- our unique 3D graphic software called the "Décor Creator". In our business, customers like to see before they buy, to picture their window treatments in the convenience of their own home, on their own windows. Our easy-to-use, proprietary software allows you to bring these designs to life to exact scale, so even the smallest detail of the window coverings appear."

I have to tell you that their technology is pretty amazing. Teresa was able to actually show us how the window would look on her laptop screen. (When I mean exactly how the window would look, I mean that she was able to put a model of our family room wall on the screen, with the current paint color, and the right dimensions etc..) She proceeded to put my wife's window covering choices in, and play around with them, over and over again. Cool stuff.

The final result is below.

So, that's how we picked our window covering. At the time, no one else had anything even close to that type of technology, and that was, (and still is) one of their strong selling points.

Of course, that's just one example of how a franchisor brings great technology to the table for it's franchisees.

The other things that franchisors should be able to provide it's franchisees include;

• A superb corporate website that makes it easy for potential customers/clients to locate their local franchisees.
• Payroll software
• Inventory management systems
• Sales and lead tracking tools
• Financial system software

As more and more technology becomes available for small businesses of every size to use, the amount of great things that franchisors can offer their franchisees should also increase.

Are there any technology tools that you know of that I may have missed?

Here's another article about franchises and new technology.

Here's Part 5