John Pratt writes:
There are few things in life where success is guaranteed and investing in a franchise is not one of them. Having said that, the whole point of franchising is that a franchisor is able to say to a prospective franchisee: “I have created a system that works and which can be replicated successfully.”
The franchisor must then prove that what it’s saying is true. It is, as a result, essential that prospective franchisees carefully evaluate the offer. This means they need to have a full list of all franchisees who they can talk to, plus information about their turnover, profitability and start-up costs or the average position across the network.
The second step is to take a long hard look at yourself and establish whether you have what it takes to be successful. That inevitably means establishing whether you have the support of your family and whether you are the sort of person who would be prepared to work seven days a week for the first few years in order to achieve success.
All that a franchisor can do is say that if you follow its system, you will not fail. How successful you are will depend on a combination of how good the franchise is and how much effort and skill you bring to it.
John Pratt is senior partner at specialist franchise firm Hamilton Pratt and has advised franchisors for over 25 years.