Joel Libava
Doing good research on a franchise you want to buy needs to include conversations with franchisees.
And these conversations must include good questions.
For example, here’s a question you can ask franchisees.
Note: this question may open a huge can of worms.
“Are you satisfied with the cost, delivery and quality of your products?”
The Cost
If you own a frozen yogurt franchise, you’re paying wholesale for your ingredients. Or, almost wholesale-there’s definitely profit in there for the franchisor. But, you’re still selling your frozen treats for more than you paid for the ingredients you purchased to make your product. Right? Right. So….
Ask the franchisees that you’re calling about the pricing. Is it fair? Is there enough room to make a good profit? These are important franchise research questions!
FYI: The answers you get may not be very uplifting. That’s because all of us want things to be cheaper. You may hear some complaining, so here’s the deal; if 80% of the franchisees you talk to-and hopefully visit in person are really, really riled up about the price that they’re paying for products, (the ones they buy from the franchisor) there may be an issue. Keep digging. Talk to several more franchisees.
Delivery
Are the franchisees getting their stuff delivered on time?
Buying A Franchise?
You're Going To Need This!
How would you like to be the owner of a pizza franchise, and you run out of pizza dough at 5:00 PM on a Saturday night? If the goods are not delivered in a timely fashion, business can’t take place. Your business. Ask the franchisees if the franchisor is good with logistics.
Quality
In times like these…consumers are not very forgiving. And, if you’re in the business to business space, your clients aren’t very forgiving either. The quality of your products have to be top-shelf. If your customers or clients have one bad experience with what you’re offering, it could be game-over. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of patience going around these days, so make sure that you choose a franchise that does have a great product. A quality one.
All you have to do is ask the franchisees. They’re selling the product. And, they invested a lot of money in order to have the right to do so.
