Opening a franchise is a smart and exciting business move. But it also has a few pitfalls for the unwary. The benefits are obvious. Here are just a handful:
● You are buying into a business formula that has already proven successful.
● Because it is a successful formula with a proven track record, it might be easier to get financing.
● You have the support of a corporation that has seen and dealt with every issue you could possibly encounter.
● You can get up and running a lot faster because you don't have to reinvent the wheel.
The pitfalls are not so obvious and require you to dig a little deeper. To begin with, just because something has worked for other people doesn't mean it will automatically work for you. There is also the fact that you have no idea how difficult it was for those other people to get it to work. It is easy to get a false sense of ease when other people have accomplished what you hope to do. You have to utilize the best sources of information when vetting franchises in which to invest. When you do that research, you will realize there is a lot more to it than meets the eye. Here are a few services you will want to acquire before investing your life's savings:
Digital Marketing Agency
Welcome to the world where more people are comfortable crossing the street while glued to their smartphone than people who carefully look both ways to be sure it is safe. Don't just shake your head in disapproval. Take note of the new normal and realize that to reach them, you are going to have to do more and better digital marketing than ever before. To accomplish this, you will need the help of a digital marketing agency.
One of the common misconceptions is that franchise businesses sell themselves. Get rid of that notion as quickly as possible. Nothing sells itself. Cold lemonade in the desert would still need a good marketing campaign, especially if there was a lot of competition. You have to start thinking of your business as primarily being in the digital marketplace, even if you have a physical retail space. Each generation is different from the last one. You have to learn how to communicate your marketing message in a whole new way. If you don't have the expertise to figure it out yourself, hire a digital marketing agency to help you get it done.
Legal Consultant
If you are planning on going into business for the first time, you will benefit greatly from a corporate legal consultant. If you have been in business before, you already know the benefits. You cannot dive headlong into such a huge venture without guidance on basic legal requirements for starting a business. That goes double if you are opening that business in a location with which you are not familiar.
Local laws and regulations can vary wildly from one county to another. That giant billboard you erected in one city might be illegal just 20 miles down the road. Liability is another disgusting can of worms that you are going to have to open and dig into. How much insurance do you have to carry versus how much you will need if someone slips and falls? What about online commerce? Do you have any direct liability if someone's credit card is compromised as a result of interacting with your website? Are there international implications to your little online business? Before you ante up for that franchise, lawyer up.
Environmental Consultant
In the past, few businesses other than manufacturing have had to consider the environmental impact of their decisions. But environmentalism is not something you should do because you have to, but because you want to do what's right by your customers and the world. Get someone to help you learn about reducing your environmental footprint. Can you eliminate plastic from your packing? Are there recycle bins in your physical place of business? Does your website draw more power from a computer than it has to? A little environmental consciousness can go a very long way.
You don't want to do a lot of unnecessary hiring when you first open your business. But you do want to cover the important bases. Bring in a digital marketing agency, a corporate legal consultant, and someone who can help you deliver a more eco-friendly business than you would have on your own.
