What you get for your money

So you’ve paid out a lump sum and signed up for any additional costs for training, merchandise and advertising etc. What do you actually get for all this money? And is it all worth it?

How to sell

Well primarily, unless you are already accustomed to the way in which your franchisor operates, they will show you how to sell their product. This is no small thing, and the fees you pay are often worth it just for this information and training alone. This will include how to present their product or service (often with strict rules to follow) and how to handle things such as complaints and legal matters. This information is invaluable and worth every penny.

Training

We briefly covered training a moment ago, but it is such an important area that it requires a little more time. Larger businesses will be more likely to offer things like this. You must consider that it is in the franchisors best interest to have you selling their products and services in an efficient, customer focused way, so the fees associated with staff training and development will not be extortionate in any way at all; they should reflect the service being provided and more or less cover the franchisor’s expense in proving them to you.

Not only is staff training important to the franchisor in that they get to have their products and service sold correctly, following the already proven business model they have sold to you, but it’s also important for you and your staff (if you have any). Providing your staff with their training and offering ongoing support and appraisal in the workplace is as important to your staff as paying their wages; it makes them know that you do care about their well being and development. Your franchisor will offer support here and provide the adequate training for your staff to advance through the various management levels of your business. Remember that staff members who are adequately trained perform better and are more confident to deliver the products and services you offer.

Marketing, Research and Development

So here are the three things that happen in the background, the ones you know nothing much about (and seriously don’t want to). This is another good reason to pay management fees (or whatever they may choose to call them.)

It’s important that you understand the product or service you sell is not so good that it doesn’t require a little tweaking and engineering here and there to keep it interesting. And what would it be like if you had to do all this yourself? A nightmare? Yes, you’re right. So you pay someone else to do it. Imagine if McDonalds had just stuck to the hamburger. I don’t think their profits would have risen the way they have, in fact I don’t think that they would even still be around. A product and/or service needs constant revision and this is best left to the experts who know the brand; who indeed invented it; if they’ve made it this far then they have a better chance of going all the way than you do.