How to Expand Your Business Though Franchising 2014 | Page 15

companies) treat franchising like
it’s a one size fits all process. It
is not. There are many franchise
development companies, lawyers
and others out there telling you how
easy it is to franchise, However,
when things seem too simple and too
“easy” proceed with caution because
someone may be trying to stuff your
business and future franchise into
a generic legal framework that will
not work for you and will not assist
in the achievement of your long term
development goals.
The franchise development process
should be all about understanding
the strengths and weaknesses of your
business, protecting your intellectual
property and building a system that
works. That is, it allows you to expand
and legally protects you.
Now, how do I know this? Well, I know
this based on my experiences as both
a franchise lawyer and a franchisor
myself, I have seen disclosures and
franchise agreements that just don’t
work for franchise companies and I
have had countless discussions with
franchisors in their second or third
year of the sales process that have
an FDD and franchise agreement
that does not reflect the realities
of their business. This eventually
proves unworkable or, worse, creates
unnecessary exposure and risk.
So, understand that when it comes to
the franchise development process,
when you are working with your
franchise team - your franchise

The Four
SE C R E T S
TO
FRANCHISING

YO
U

S
R BUSINES

SECRET 1: TAKE ACTION
This may seem obvious but a major reason some achieve franchise success
and others don’t comes down to “action”. That is, as with many things in life, it
is not the smartest entrepreneur or the one with the best products or services
that succeeds and achieves multi-unit expansion but, rather, the entrepreneur
that “takes action”, adopts a plan and keeps moving forward.
So, in the franchising and multi-unit expansion world, many smart entrepreneurs fail because they never get started - they never take that first step and
they “fail to launch”.
SECRET 2: THE RIGHT PERSPECTIVE
Understand that franchise and business success is not a “destination” but
rather a continuous journey. To be a successful franchisor you need to understand this perspective and agree with it.
SECRET 3: CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT REQUIRED
Understand that you cannot do everything at once - a process is required. The
key is taking action and then understanding that your must be dedicated to
continuously improving and refining your business. What you franchise system
will look like today (really 90 days) will be different from what it will be one
year, two years and five years later. So, dedication to developing and continuously improving your business systems will trump having the best of everything right now.
SECRET 4: FRANCHISING IS FLEXIBLE (IT DOES NOT NEED TO BE HUGE)
Understand that franchising is flexible and should be customized to your
business and your personal goals. This is how we approach the development
of your franchise. You control how big or how small you become - becoming
a franchisor does not mean you have to become a large company operating
in all 50 states. Sustainable and controlled growth is the key to successful
franchising.

lawyers - you must be actively involved. You must participate to ensure that the
development process reflects your business and how your new franchise system
will operate best.
Consider that some of the many, many legal and business aspects of your franchise
system can and should be customized toward what will work best for you.

SELLING FRANCHISES