Franchising Library
Franchising Your Business
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Thinking of Franchising a Business? Here’s why not every brand will succeed
Practically any business can be franchised, but the threshold question of whether that business *should* franchise is often overlooked, especially when a founder has early success. A threshold analysis provides the crucial initial evaluation that is often the difference between a franchise system that has legs and one that fails at launch.
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How to Franchise Your Business — The Right Way
Development of your legal agreements is one of the last elements of developing a successful franchising strategy. Your FDD and Franchise Agreement should be developed only after a feasibility analysis and strategic plan. While you may have an operating business with a long history and experienced management, you are developing a *new* business – a franchise system.
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Developing a Franchise System
Operations Training and Support
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To Train or Not to Train
Successful franchisors understand they cannot fully eliminate the risk of co-employment liability in franchise training. This article explains ways to minimize that risk, including filtering decisions about training programs and content based on their impact on brand execution.
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Training Franchise Managers to Coach their Teams
Unfortunately, when managers fail to coach, employees’ continued poor performance can have negative consequences on customers as well as morale. For managers who may have come to the position without coaching skills, as is the case for most first-time managers in a franchise as well as some franchisees, a structured approach to training is the best path forward.
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Training Execution in Franchising: Problems and Solutions
Though problems in training execution can be the source of service or product issues, take the time to sort out whether other factors in your system are to blame. There may be multiple obstacles to effective training execution, each of them requiring careful analysis.
Documenting Your Business for Franchising
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What Is a Franchise Operations Manual?
A franchise operations manual is the DNA of a franchise system – the foundation that governs franchise unit performance, procedures, and conduct. The manual sets out in detail the specifications, standards, and procedures with which franchisees must comply in order to operate their franchised businesses and consistently deliver on the franchisor’s brand promise.
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Four Best Practices in Franchise Manuals Wording
The current climate around joint employment issues should serve as a wake-up call to review your franchise operations manuals now with these best practices in mind. After these key writing tactics have been applied, future updates will be much easier.
Franchisee Recruiting
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Creating the Profile of Your Ideal Franchisee
For franchisors, the key to successfully marketing their franchise opportunity begins with being able to create a profile of their ideal franchisee. This profile makes it easier to create a message that will reach and interest your target candidates, and to select media that will reach your target audience.
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International Franchising
Marketing and Branding
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Retail Theater: Crafting an Immersive Shopping Experience in Franchising
The success of Retail Theater rests on how well you physically convey your brand’s story and the culture of your business, from even before the moment a customer steps through the door. Atmosphere, staff, product/service presentation, and packaging must all be orchestrated into a curated performance.
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Franchise Relations
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MSA Worldwide’s response to the FTC’s Request for Information on franchise agreements & franchise business practices
In its update in 2007, the Commission decided to eliminate the requirement that franchise sales organizations and brokers provide material disclosure to the potential franchisees they are working with. While removing that information from a franchisor’s disclosure document was a sensible decision, eliminating broker information entirely left prospective franchisees in significant jeopardy.
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Managing Your Franchise’s Reputation in Times of Crisis
Most professionals agree that the existence of a working crisis plan and its successful implementation must be viewed as important to the survival of business. The damage from a poorly handled crisis can cause long-lasting and often permanent damage to a company’s reputation and its marks.
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Finance and Legal Issues in Franchising
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American Franchise Act – Bipartisanship is back in style in Washington
The American Franchise Act (AFA) is a singularly important bill to clarify the meaning of joint employment. In the past ten years the definition of joint employment has changed four times, causing significant damage not only to franchisees and franchisor but to the American consumer, workers, and our economy.
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Franchise Regulation: New FTC Rule Bans Non-Competes but Excludes Franchises
The Federal Trade Commission recently announced a new rule that will ban employers from imposing non-compete clauses on their workers – but the new rule will not prohibit non-compete provisions between franchisors and franchisees.
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MSA Worldwide’s response to the FTC’s Request for Information on franchise agreements & franchise business practices
In its update in 2007, the Commission decided to eliminate the requirement that franchise sales organizations and brokers provide material disclosure to the potential franchisees they are working with. While removing that information from a franchisor’s disclosure document was a sensible decision, eliminating broker information entirely left prospective franchisees in significant jeopardy.
Real Estate and Territories
Strategic Planning in Franchise Systems
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Protecting Brand Standards: Finding the right supply chain balance
While franchisors need to maintain brand consistency and quality standards across their networks, franchisees face increasing pressure to protect their profit margins in an inflationary environment. The most successful franchise systems recognize that supply chain management must balance the needs of consistently meeting brand standards with the economic realities facing franchisees.
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Social Franchising
Associations and Events
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IFA, MSA Worldwide Announce Franchise Certification Partnership
MSA Worldwide has partnered with the IFA to offer continuing franchise education and certification through the IFA Certified Franchise Executive™(CFE) Program. “Understanding the Dynamics and Requirements of Commercial and Social Franchising” is a thirteen-week self-directed CFE course for franchise professionals.
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VetFran: Helping Veterans become Job Providers
VetFran was founded in 1991 as a strategic initiative of the International Franchise Association (IFA), and is built upon the foundation of helping Veterans find careers in Franchising. VetFran includes over 650 IFA member companies that offer financial incentives, training, and mentoring to veterans interested in franchise ownership and/or a career path in franchising.
Market Trends in Franchising
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It’s Time to Consider Privatizing Air Traffic Control
Franchising is a performance-based method in which standards are established, franchisees have incentives to meet those standards, and the scale of the system allows for replication of support and supply that makes it economically efficient at the system and local level.
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Retail Theater: Crafting an Immersive Shopping Experience in Franchising
The success of Retail Theater rests on how well you physically convey your brand’s story and the culture of your business, from even before the moment a customer steps through the door. Atmosphere, staff, product/service presentation, and packaging must all be orchestrated into a curated performance.
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Protecting Brand Standards: Finding the right supply chain balance
While franchisors need to maintain brand consistency and quality standards across their networks, franchisees face increasing pressure to protect their profit margins in an inflationary environment. The most successful franchise systems recognize that supply chain management must balance the needs of consistently meeting brand standards with the economic realities facing franchisees.
Buying a Franchise
The Basics of Franchising
Franchisor Interviews and Profiles
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Making a Splash in the Franchise World – Goldfish Swim School
Goldfish Swim School’s year-round swim lesson model for children 4 months to 12 years teaches swim and safety skills while building character, with one certified instructor for every four children. By Chris McCuiston, CEO & Co-Founder, Goldfish Swim School Franchising When my wife, Jenny, and I decided to start our own learn-to-swim business, we never…
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Franchisor Profile: Shelly Sun, BrightStar Care
Shelly Sun, CFE, is CEO and Co-Founder of BrightStar Franchising, LLC, a healthcare franchise system providing the full continuum of home care, child care, and medical staffing services. Shelly also serves as Chair of the International Franchise Association’s Executive Committee. In the rapidly changing healthcare industry and regulatory environment, BrightStar Care franchisees – like all…

















