Want To Franchise Your Concept? Ask Yourself These 10 Key Franchising Questions First

If you've developed a successful concept and are looking for opportunities to grow, franchising may be an option to consider. However, getting into franchising is expensive, time-consuming and not every successful restaurant translates into a successful franchising business. Use these 10 key questions as a reality check to determine whether your business is a good candidate for franchising or not.

1. Does your business have a well-defined concept/brand?

There are a number of things that add up to a well defined brand. The Brand must be identifiable. If someone asks the question, "what is this place and why would I be interested in coming?" they should receive an answer that easily describes the concept and its value proposition establishing what's in it for them. The brand/concept needs to be easily understood by both customers and employees. Employees need to know what it is they represent and what is expected of them in order to deliver on your Brand's promise. Think of what comes to mind when someone says Starbuck's, McDonalds, Outback Steakhouse or Chili's. You immediately have a picture in your mind of what each concept is and why you would use that Brand.

2. Is your business capable of creating some type of sustainable uniqueness/competitive advantage?

What is it that makes you unique and creates a competitive advantage? It could be that you have an extremely complex system like Cheesecake Factory or TGI Friday's. It might be your financial model creates a stronger than expected return on investment like Applebee's, Subway and Sonic. Maybe it is your service style or speed of service like Pei Wei's self service and 5 minute ticket times, Chipotle's custom made for you and immediately delivered food, or Sonic's car hop service. It could even be the simplicity of the concept that allows you to outperform your competitors like Chili's. Even in the burger sector there are a number of cooking methods that differentiate each Brand. McDonald's "griddles", Burger King "flame broils", Wendy's cooks your burger "fresh" once it is ordered, and White Castle "steams" the burgers with onions. Your points of differentiation enable you to stake out a position necessary in vying for and retaining customers and employees.