Our Services
Our experience, knowledge, personal attention, and quality of work are the best in this field. We have long term relationships with our clients.
With our guidance, our clients have sold thousands of franchises.
Services For Companies Starting A Franchise Program
All of the work that we do - planning/research/disclosure documents/operations control manuals/marketing and selling programs - is interrelated. Our entire staff works closely together to help you.
Services for Established Franchise CompaniesFranchising Concept
We will analyze your current business concept and determine changes that would be needed for a franchise situation.
We will determine the best ways to structure the controls, policies and contracts for operating your franchise, based on current standards in franchising, legal criteria, efficiency and profitability.
We will determine the financial terms of your franchise relationship (initial franchise fees, royalties, advertising fees, etc.) and lay out the guidelines for the franchisor/franchisee relationship.
We will determine if you should offer a protected territory, the type to be used, and the criteria for establishing the territory.
We will determine a typical franchisee's investment to get started and a realistic return on investment.
We will research other similar franchise concepts and those that may appeal to your ideal franchise buyer, analyze their strengths and weaknesses, and position your franchise offering so that you can effectively compete for buyers.
We will determine the tangible benefits of buying one of your franchises versus being an independent or, if applicable, belonging to a competing franchise system.
Planning is the key. We will develop a franchise plan for your company including support services you'll need to provide the franchisees both in their start-up phase and ongoing during the term of your relationship.
We will determine how your assistance and support services will grow and evolve as the number of franchises grows so that we may structure your documents to allow for these changes and protect your future options.
We will determine a realistic pace of expansion, the organization structure you will need in place to support this growth, and develop financial projections for your franchise program.
The information, decisions, and strategies developed during the planning phase are critical to the proper development of the disclosure documents, operations manuals, and the franchise marketing strategy and materials. Development of these documents without proper planning could lead to problems.
We will prepare the documents you will need in order to franchise, such as the contract (Franchise Agreement) and the Disclosure Document.
The Franchise Agreement defines the relationship between you (the franchisor) and each franchisee. This document protects your image and reputation. It helps ensure a uniform and consistent operation from one franchisee to the next. It helps protect an individual franchisee from adverse actions by another franchisee. By necessity, this document is very extensive and the tone of the Franchise Agreement is one-sided -- in your favor.
Since the Franchise Agreement is usually in effect for a minimum of five to ten years, it is extremely important that we cover possible problems that could arise in a franchise relationship. It must reflect the latest state-of-the-art developments; it must be flexible and capable of accommodating future business changes; and it must be marketable.
The Disclosure Document provides the potential franchisee with detailed background information on the franchise company, such as: specific details about the officers - who they are and their business history; the organization structure of the franchise company; the business concept; funds required by the franchisee; training provided; termination provisions; etc. This document is required by law before you can sell a franchise.
We will determine the best way of structuring your franchise corporate entity in terms of regulatory acceptance, limitation of liability, financial disclosure requirements, tax implications, auditing standards, trademark usage, future spinoff possibilities, and Federal Trade Commission and state regulatory requirements.
In franchising, the Disclosure Document and Franchise Agreement are more than just legal documents - they cover financial aspects of a business, quality control, operating systems and procedures, marketing, future options/alternatives and many other business aspects. The work is extensive; an attorney alone doesn't possess sufficient knowledge or experience to develop these documents. All the work that we do is interrelated; our entire staff works together to develop these documents for your company.
We will deal with the regulatory authorities that require approval of your franchise documents before you are allowed to offer franchises for sale. Our relationship with these regulators, built over the years, should help smooth the way and overcomes obstacles. Civil and criminal penalties could be imposed if the state and federal laws are not properly followed.
We will review your existing systems, procedures and controls and determine if they need to be modified or strengthened for a successful franchise operation. The franchisee must have all systems, procedures and methods in place and functioning smoothly in order to learn and run the operation as quickly as possible. More importantly, the franchisee must be programmed to operate the business your way; you must be able to monitor the franchisee and detect any non-compliance.
We will develop a Franchise Control Manual and training schedule. The Franchise Control Manual is an extension of the Franchise Agreement. Its style, format and tone must be such that it enables you to enforce your rules, regulations, policies and procedures.
We will develop the marketing strategy for selling your franchises. We will prepare a geographic expansion plan, and determine the best methods and approaches for attracting your ideal franchisee. (Some new franchisors fail because they don't have the proper marketing approach and don't know the secrets to selling their particular franchise concept.)
We will prepare the overall design and copy for ads, sales brochures, web sites, etc. that will comply with federal and state laws and at the same time be attractive to prospective franchisees.
We will develop an advertising and promotion plan for selling your franchises. Franchise advertising and promotion requires specialized knowledge that most advertising agencies do not possess. Our knowledge of the effectiveness of different media can prevent wasting valuable dollars on the wrong ads in the wrong places; the money we could save a client may be substantial.
We will develop a complete franchise sales program and train your staff in the following:
Franchise selling
Our selling techniques, methods and secrets have enabled our clients over the years to collectively sell thousands of franchises.
Some clients have questions concerning their return on investment, their ability to compete in the franchise marketplace, the organization needed to support a franchise program, the advantages of franchising, etc. Drawing on a wide range of research sources, we can help answer these questions with an in-depth feasibility study and business plan. These reports can also be used for presentations to potential investors. If we don't think you're ready to franchise, we'll tell you what steps you need to take before starting a franchise program.
Once your franchise program is developed, we can consult on an ongoing basis in many areas of franchise growth.
We can provide an ongoing coaching lifeline so that you never feel alone in building your franchise company.
We can establish a strategic gameplan or budget for your franchise division followed up by monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual progress meetings.
We can provide continuous guidance in marketing and selling your franchises. We can train new sales personnel for your company. We can assist in the negotiations during the sale of a franchise.
We can consult on a number of issues concerned with growing the company; building an organization, developing support services, setting priorities, delegating, and time management.
We can amend or update your documents as needed.
We can develop the procedures, methods and forms used to train and control your master franchisees and subfranchisees.
We can manage your franchise advertising program. We can develop a complete public relations press kit including press releases and media contact lists for your use in generating publicity.
If We Didn't Develop Your Franchise Program
If we didn't develop your franchise program, we may still be able to help. Our STUCK? program is specifically designed to help those companies that got poor results because they "tried to franchise by themselves," "used a franchise attorney," or "used a small local consultant." (We attempt to salvage as much of the work developed to date as possible.) As franchising grows, regulatory concerns and requirements will also grow. Structuring the franchise program correctly is more important than ever.
International Franchising
We help clients "go global." We assist U.S. companies in going abroad as well as help foreign companies come to the U.S. We offer our full range of "how to franchise your business" consulting services to these companies.