The quality of the development of the business, franchise system and legal documentation is very dependent on the quality of the advice. The research and due diligence the franchisor completes at the outset is extremely important. I am of the opinion there are too many people entering franchising for the wrong reasons. One of the main contributors is the insincere motivation of ‘expert’ advisors and bad advice.

A more sound assessment of the business and the appropriateness of the franchise strategy may often reveal franchising is not the best strategy.

Useful tips:

• Research, research, research and speak to people in the sector to gain a peer view of the advisors.
• Ask advisors for extensive references from the past couple of years to get some feel for the depth of experience the advisor has and the results the advice has created. The real measure is consistency of outcome which ultimately is the number and success of the franchises granted and the overall business growth.
• The legal documents are not the starting point for entering franchising they are a subset of the franchise program development.
• The transactional route of selling franchises is not the foundation of a sustainable business.
• There are many reasons for not getting involved in franchising which need to be addressed in the context of the particular business in question.
• There are cheaper means of getting into franchising but there is the potential for the adage ‘get what you pay for’ and what can only be described as bad advice.
• Experience suggests the commoditised perspective of developing franchise systems is not appropriate as it fails to address the key issues and more problematically erodes the broader foundation necessary for sustainable growth.