Joel Libava
Working with franchisees is one of the best ways to do good franchise research. That’s because you’ll be able to determine your fit for the franchise opportunity you’re interested in possible buying.
So…
After you find a franchisee who’s willing to let you hang out and observe their franchise business in action…
Get In Your Car And Go!
Working With Franchisees: Which Franchisees Should You Visit?
You know how important it is to talk with 10-15 existing franchisees of the franchise opportunity you’re interested in.
Right?
And, you’ve found a few who you were able to easily relate to. Right?
Those are the franchisees you should try to visit. Are any of them within a couple hours drive?
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Spend Time Working With Franchise Owners
This is what you need to do.
Call a couple of them back, and ask them if you could spend a day at their location. Make sure you stress that this must be convenient for them. They have businesses to run, so be flexible with them. If they are willing to spend a day with you in their franchise location-or even a few hours, go ahead and visit. Better yet, arrange in-person visits with two franchisees. By visiting two, you can get a much broader feel of the franchise concept itself.
Why Two?
By design, the franchise business model requires uniformity. But, two franchise operations may feel vastly different. They may have different management styles, be of different physical sizes…there may be several differences. If you can swing it, visit two franchise locations. It will be well worth your time to do so. You’ll increase your chances for success.
Observe Everything
Observe it all.
Watch how employees interact with customers. Observe the customers. Are they eager to do business with the location you’re in? Are they purchasing extra products and/or services?
The franchisees you visit will fully expect you to ask lots of questions, so fire away.
Like this one: “If you had a chance to do this over again, would you?”
Here’s another good franchise research question to ask in-person: “How did you find your location?”
Tip: If you’d like to have the best questions to ask the franchisees you talk to and/or visit in-person, grab my franchise research guide now.
Do It
You’ll find in-person visits and actually working with franchisees, are really valuable.
However…
It’s one thing to observe a franchise operation in action, it’s quite another to own one.
So go spend some time with franchisees in their places of business.
You’ll be glad you did.
About the Author
Joel Libava is The Franchise King® — an independent franchise advisor with 25+ years in the industry, two published books on franchising, and his writing has been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, CNBC, Entrepreneur® Magazine and others. In addition, he wrote exclusively for the U.S. Small Business Administration blog for eight years. He doesn't sell franchises. Instead, Joel helps you figure out if franchise ownership is actually right for you — and if it is, teaches you his powerful, proven-to-work franchise research techniques, so you can make a smart, informed decision on a franchise to own and be your own boss.
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