Five Biggest Mistakes UK Franchisors Make
Learn from the most common, and most expensive, mistakes.
Julie Clabby, co-founder of Familia, grew her own business into a national franchise network before helping other founders do the same. Here she sets out the five pitfalls we see most often, and how to avoid them.
Watch time: 2m 50s
The five mistakes in brief
Franchising too soon. If you franchise before the business is ready, you end up unpicking problems later. Make sure the core offer is strong, everything is documented and you are ready to go from the outset.
Not understanding how your role will change. The moment you sell your first unit, you become a franchisor and your day job changes. You are no longer the person selling the core business. You are leading, supporting and mentoring franchisees, and that is a real shift in mindset.
Not planning enough capital. You need the money to get the business franchise-ready and to support the network as it grows. In the early days you will only have a couple of franchisees, and their management service fees probably won’t cover your costs.
Choosing quantity over quality. It is tempting to cast the net wide and bring everyone in. But your first five franchisees set the culture and tone of the network, so they need to be the right people: owners who will run great businesses and attract more good franchisees after them.
Poor territory mapping. Have your territories mapped professionally from the start. If an area is too big, much of it goes unused, and that costs you money. Make territories too small and franchisees end up fighting over the same customers. Getting it right first time saves redrawing maps later.
