Or, as I suspect, are today's franchise buyers interested in being educated?
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Picture From Piotrus–Wikimedia Commons
A fellow Brain Trust member and I were having this discussion a couple of weeks ago. Nick Bibby, (a laid back, soft spoken franchise consultant like myself) have a few of things in common.
- We're regularly accused of being rather cynical, and a tad negative on franchising
- We aren't members of the "franchise association"
- We like protecting prospective franchisees that are about to make huge mistakes
- We can't be bought
Now, on to this short discussion we had…
Nick contacted me with a couple of questions concerning my opinions regarding the franchise brokerage industry. I think he was in agreement with me about the sheer number of new franchise brokers (and brokerage's) that are overtaking the number of actual franchise opportunities available to mankind. Read
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The next topic we discussed was the launching of Franchise Online University.com. It's not a "university," at all. (I just liked the name. It has rhythm. I don't.)
Franchise Online University.com is a web destination for would-be franchise owners to learn about what franchise ownership really entails. I've set it up so that after "students" take the Free "Introduction To Franchising" course, they'll really be able to decide if they should spend some of their valuable time selecting a few franchises to investigate.
Most folks think that selecting a franchise business or two to look into is an easy thing to do. The problem with that assumption is that there are over 3,000 different choices in the US.
Then there's that darn franchise research. (Which almost nobody knows how to do)
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So, I told Nick about my "university." He thought that it was a good idea. He shared a discussion that he had with a rather outspoken franchise attorney who freely shares his distaste for franchisors on a franchise site that Nick and I used to comment and post on frequently.
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This attorney told Nick that he's been trying to educate prospective franchisees for years, and that in general, they didn't want to get educated. They wanted to be sold. Sold.
I was super-surprised when I heard that. (Actually, I crawled into my little franchise corner, put my crown on, and smashed my head into the franchise wall for a couple of minutes.)
Ouch.
After all, I just created what I thought was a masterpiece. I spent hours and hours designing three content-laden franchise courses for Franchise Online University.com. My courses were going to save lives! (Ok. They aren't going to save lives, but they may save folks some major future headaches $$.)
What should I do now? I was planning on using some of the proceeds from my courses for my daughter's education! (At a real university)
Can it be true? Is Nick's attorney friend right?
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Ursula,
Thank you for stopping by! (All the way from the UK!)
I haven’t heard from you in awhile.
You are spot-on. How many franchisors really have the courage to say no to a candidate that’s just average? (Or below average)
When times are tough, I know from experience that it IS harder to say no to income opportunities, like collecting a franchise free.
If all of us in the franchise industry would start thinking long term, everyone will win.
Franchise King®
It all depends on where the candidate is with their investigation of franchise opportunities. Furthermore, as the decision to invest is typically an emotional one, most are then just looking for facts/figures/data/hype to justify their decision for moving foward with a brand they’ve latched on to — even if its really not the right one for them. Thus, franchisors who have a good “sales process” are typically able to convert more of these candidates who really should be referred elsewhere.
It’s probably not true, but not false either, King.
Maybe people need to be convinced that they do need some education, first.
J. Bailey