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Twelve-Week Checklist to Staring Your Franchise
Now that you have all the basic information you need to get your franchise
up and moving, and before we get into training and
operating procedures for your first few
franchises, it’s useful to set everything down
in one place and give you a timeline. If your
business is ready to go, starting your franchise
should be fully doable in twelve weeks’ time.
Use the following checklist to help you get
started!
Immediately
q
Sit down and give some serious thought to your business, your reasons for
franchising, the viability of your operation, and
the processes you plan to go through.
q
Register your trademarks and logos so they are protected by copyright
q
Put your general business plan on paper
With
Eleven Weeks To Go
q
Refine your business plan and put it into a recognisable form
q
Assess your available capital and consult a bank for a loan if necessary
q
Seek out locations to conduct market research
q
Decide on the strategy you will use for market research
With
Ten Weeks To Go
q
Begin conducting market research
q
Start looking for a reliable franchise lawyer
q
Begin to keep notes on things you want to include in the franchise agreement
and sales prospectus
With
Nine Weeks To Go
q
Continue market research
q
Begin to gather matters related to your company’s financial date and put
together some research on market trends
With
Eight Weeks to Go
q
Confirm the information you want included in your franchise agreement and
discuss the details with your lawyer
q
Analyse the results of market research and determine where you want to
target your franchise markets
q
Begin to assemble the materials for the sales prospectus
With
Seven Weeks to Go
q
Consider how you plan to market your franchise
q
Complete the sales prospectus
q
Assemble your franchise information package
With
Six Weeks to Go
q
With your lawyer, review the franchise agreement and make sure it complies
with all ethical regulations
q
Apply for membership in the British Franchise Association (optional)
q
Complete a nondisclosure document
q
Begin searching for franchisees
With
Five Weeks to Go
q
Check to see that all of your documents are complete and accurate
q
Continue searching for franchisees
q
Begin thinking about what you want to include in the Operations Manual
With
Four Weeks to Go
q
Begin interviewing franchisees
q
Complete the Operations Manual
With
Three Weeks to Go
q
Select your initial franchisees and sign the franchise agreement
q
Begin initial training
q
Make sure the franchisee has an adequate location and will have an adequate
supply of merchandise
q
Begin promoting the new franchise location
With
Two Weeks to Go
q
Focus on advertising for the new franchise
q
Work with your franchisee on hiring and setting up the new location
With
One Week to Go
q
Address any last minute concerns with the franchisee
q
Continue to focus on marketing
And then it’s time to sit back and enjoy the fruition of all your hard
work! If you’re planning to use your first
franchises as pilot studies, this is the time to
begin collecting data and putting it to use.
Problems will arise, but don’t be discouraged:
nothing ever goes smoothly the first time through.
As long as you stick to this checklist, your
legalities are covered and there should be no
difficulties you can’t handle.
How
To Franchise Your Business Info Guide
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