Adler Stone

May 23, 2019

Step 7. Franchise Award

Franchise Award

Getting the Franchise to say YES to you! Because the franchise is a business in itself and they are trusting their system to the care of each franchisee, the franchisor has a process that will determine if you are a good ﬁt for them. This is important to their business to ensure they will be successful in the long term and that they are only bringing the best candidates into their business. Our goal with this step is to work with you and ensure that you have everything you need to impress the franchisor on the things that they are looking for.

This step usually includes something called Discovery Day. This is when you go to the franchisor’s corporate office to get to know their management team and they will decide if you are the right fit for their company. Depending on the company, you may sign the paperwork for your new franchise during Discovery Day!

The Rest of the Steps

May 9, 2019

Step 6: Due Diligence

Due Diligence

After the introduction to the Franchisors, you will decide which one(s) you want to proceed with. There will most likely only be one that you want to really start looking into though. You will then receive a document called a Franchisor Disclosure Document (FDD). This document can ONLY been disclosed by the Franchisor. It contains information about the franchisor, including very high level financial information. This information is not going to be helpful when it comes to deciding if you want to buy that franchise. So we will arrange for calls with franchisees within that system. During those calls, we will be able to get detailed financial information and questions answered about how that specific franchise works and relationships with management.

This step is designed to ensure that you will get ALL of the information you need to make an informed decision about buying a franchise.

The Rest of the Steps

May 2, 2019

Our Process of Helping You Find A Franchise

Our Process of Helping You Find A Franchise | Let’s Talk Details

So we have shared with you the 8 Steps to Buying a Franchise. And those are the steps that you are going to go through when you buy a franchise. While this is a great resource, it doesn’t give you the details of the process you are going to go through with us. So today we want to share with you the process of helping you find a franchise so you know how the process goes with us.

Our Process of Helping You Find A Franchise | Initial Interest

First you are going to let us know that you are interested! There are a number of ways to do this with us. It may be through one of our social media accounts (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram), or our website or through contacting us directly. No matter what, as soon as you show initial interest, we will start the process.

Our Process of Helping You Find A Franchise | Business Builder Profile

Your next step is to take the Business Builder Profile. This is a 10-15 minute assessment that shows us what your business style is like, what your strengths and weaknesses are and what kind of company you’re going to work best with. Once you have taken this, we will set up a call with you to discuss the results and next steps.

Our Process of Helping You Find A Franchise | Results Review Call

This call is where we talk about the results from your Business Builder Profile. The results will help us figure out what kind of franchises are going to be the best fit for you. We will also talk about what you’re looking for in a business and what kinds of businesses that you are interested in. This conversation will help us find the first set of options that we will present to you during our next call.

Our Process of Helping You Find A Franchise | Options Presentation

After the first call, we will go and look for some franchise options based on what we talked about in that call. We will send you a information packet with a list of options (there will be details about each option included as well) so you can follow along during the presentation. This is where we will narrow down which 1 or 2, maybe even 3, options that you want to start pursuing further. Sometimes we find that there may be an option that we missed or there is something you were thinking. In that case, we will bring you several more options to pick from. Usually this call with have 2 of our partners on it. We like to provide you with more than one point of contact from our side for the entire process.

Our Process of Helping You Find A Franchise | Introductions

Now that we have decided which options you want to start focusing on, we will set up calls with those companies to do introductions. We will facilitate a call with you and them so you can get to know each other. We will be on that call with you and make sure you are getting all of the right information and your questions are being answered. These calls can end up being 2-3 calls depending on the company and how much time they want to spend getting to know you.

Our Process of Helping You Find A Franchise | FDD Release & Review

During the process of getting to know the franchisors, they will release their FDDs to you. You will need to sign a document saying that you received it but it is not legally binding AT ALL. It does not require you to buy anything or commit to a franchise. But we will then walk you through the FDD and help you understand what the document includes and what everything means. The FDD will provide you with some high level information and numbers but the real numbers and very detailed information will come in the validation stage.

Our Process of Helping You Find A Franchise | Funding Options

This is usually where we bring in funding to discuss what your options are and if you need/want to get additional funding. There are lots of options when it comes to funding and you can read about some of them here. You will get a free one hour call with our funding expert so you can ask questions and get some ideas about what your options are. Sometimes we do bring funding in earlier in the process, it just depends on how you are feeling and what your options are.

Our Process of Helping You Find A Franchise | Validation

Validation is where we set up calls with current franchise owners in the systems you are interested in so we can ask them very in-depth and detailed questions. We have a spreadsheet were we can put in numbers we ask the franchisees for so we can create a pro forma for you to take to your accountant. This is probably the longest part of the process and we will make sure to take the time to get all of the information you need so you can make the most education decision possible.

Our Process of Helping You Find A Franchise | Discovery Day

Once you have decided which system you want to proceed with, we will help you schedule a time to go to that company’s corporate office so you can meet their team and they can decide if you are a right fit for them. This is something that most people don’t understand. The franchise has to pick you to own one of their territories, you don’t just get to decide that you want to buy one.

Our Process of Helping You Find A Franchise | Review of Contract

Once you have gone to Discovery Day and everyone decides that it is a good fit, you will get a contract from the system. We will go over that contract with you and we even have a lawyer that will spend an hour free walking you through that contract. Any addendum that need to be made can be discussed and the lawyer will make sure you understand what you are signing. You can always hire them if necessary after that first call.

Our Process of Helping You Find A Franchise | New Franchise Owner

Now you are a new franchise owner! You have been awarded the franchise, you have your funding and you have made it through Discovery Day. You have started the training with your system and you are ramping up your business. We want to stay in touch! Do you know other people who want to buy a franchise? We would love for you refer them to us. Oh and if you do, be sure to fill out this form because if a deal closes, you get something out of it too!

April 25, 2019

Step 5. Franchisor Introductions

Franchisor Introductions

During this step, we will be introducing you to the franchisors. You have decided on a few concepts that you like in Step 1 and we arrange for phone calls with those concepts. You will be able to ask initial, high level questions and they will provide a high level look at their business. Once that initial call is complete, you will usually have 1-2 more calls with the franchisors where you will decide which 1 or 2 you really want to proceed with to Step 6 which is due diligence.

You will end Step 5 confident about which concept(s) you are the most comfortable with. If for some reason you don’t like any of the concepts after the franchisor introductions, we go back to the drawing board and look at new concepts. We want to make sure you are ready to progress to step 6 before we start the due diligence process.

The Rest of the Steps

April 11, 2019

Step 4. Prepare Yourself

Step 4: Prepare Yourself

Preparation is key. During this step you will be armed with valuable information and essential tools. As Franchise Brokers, we spend all day, every day looking at and assessing franchises. We have developed numerous systems to prepare you. We will be walking you down the path of what questions you need to ask the franchisors, the franchisees in those systems, and your finance people. We want to make sure you are ready to start talking about to the Franchisors.

The Rest of the Steps

April 4, 2019

The Reality of Buying A Franchise

The Reality of Buying A Franchise | The Good

There are a lot of really good things about buying a franchise. You are starting a business but you are not alone. We like to say you are going into business for yourself but not by yourself. You have the support of the franchise system you are buying into. So you are going to have some more freedom when it comes to deciding what your working hours look like and you are your own boss.

In some instances, you can have an impact on the development of the franchise system you are buying into. If you end up buying into an emerging company, you can have an impact on how they do business, the systems they use and other areas of the business. All of that without the risk of starting your company with no support.

When you use a Franchise Broker, you will get all of the information you are looking for in order to buy the right franchise. You will be able to vet other franchisees and you will be able to get actual numbers for how well they are doing and how much they have invested into their franchise.

The Reality of Buying A Franchise | The Not So Good

There is a possibility that you go through the process of looking at a franchise and you are then rejected by the franchise company. They have the right to award a franchise at the end of the process. They may decide that you are not the right fit for their company and not award you the franchise. This is one of many reasons why you should use a franchise broker (we will talk more in detail about this in a few weeks!).

There can be a lot of money that is required to be invested into a new franchise. You may need to get a loan or borrow money elsewhere. A lot of people see this as a bad thing but we don’t!

The Reality of Buying A Franchise | The Light At the End of the Tunnel

We may have made you a little nervous about buying a franchise now. But we want you to know what you are getting into. There are no guarantees when it comes to this. However, you can make your life a lot easier by making sure you sure you use a Franchise Broker to help you through the process. Not only will we hold your hand and guide you through the entire process, we will also make sure that you are working with the right people and you are going in the right direction!

March 28, 2019

Step 3. Compare Your Options

Compare Your Results

Now that we know what industry best suits you and what industry you are interested in, we need to compare them to one another. We help you by finding franchises that fit into that industry and presenting them to you. You can then narrow down your options based on the concepts you like best.Through this process we look at each of the concept’s growth, track record, retention, competition, costs, etc. At the end of this step you will have a clear picture of which concepts are the movers and shakers and those which ﬁt you and your personal goals. Once we have figured out which ones you like best, we will move on to step four!

The Rest of the Steps