A lot of people have great ideas they feel they can “franchise.” Lots of great business ideas have become great franchise concepts. Wouldn’t it be terrific if your idea could turn into franchise gold?
Your Idea
When you have an idea for a business you feel you can turn into a powerful franchise concept, there a several steps you need to take. The first one; testing its viability. You have to figure out if your idea is a viable one. Some questions to ask:
- Is there a market for your product/service?
- Are there already businesses doing what you’re thinking of doing?
- Has your idea been proven?
- Can the business be easily duplicated by others?
- Do you know how you’ll get your franchise to market?
Those questions-along with a few others, can be answered relatively easy.
A Feasibility Study
The best way to figure out if your idea for a franchise is viable is by hiring someone to do a feasibility study.
Most franchise development firms do feasibility studies. They do them to make sure their prospective clients have something that actually can become a franchise business. In addition, formal feasibility studies can find holes in the concept as well as provide keen insights into what it may take to bring the franchise business to market.
If you have an idea for a franchise business, it’s well worth the investment needed to have a veteran franchise development firm do a feasibility study. You do want to know if you really have something, right?
It’s important for you to know that just because you feel you have a great idea for a franchise business doesn’t mean you do.
Franchise Dreams
Most of the people who come up with ideas for franchise concepts visualize big things.
For example, I remember talking to a young franchisor who told me that he’d be able to sell 100 franchises during his first year in business. I told him he wouldn’t be able to sell that many franchises in a year...in his first year as a franchisor. I even went further and told him that he wouldn’t be able to sell 100* franchises in his first two years in business. (One of the reasons had to do with the fact that the concept itself was in a pretty narrow niche.) It was a short conversation, as he didn’t believe me.
*The franchise I’m referring to hasn’t come close to hitting 100 units yet. (They’ve been franchising for almost 10 years)
It Can Be Done...
If you have a great idea for a franchise business, you can end up turning it into quite a business. While you probably won’t sell 100 franchises in your first year, you could end up selling 100 franchises in a few years. And, if your concept is really special, you could end up with a franchise empire. You could have hundreds of franchises. Or, thousands.
...Just Don’t Do This
If you feel in your heart that you have a winner, don’t ruin your chances of success by being cheap.
In other words, don’t just hire a franchise attorney so you can start selling franchises. While it’s true that you’ll need a franchise attorney to set up your business as a franchise, legally, it’s not the first investment you should make to get your concept up and running. The legalities won’t matter much if your franchise idea isn’t a viable one in the first place.
Your first investment needs to be on a professional franchise feasibility study.
The Bottom Line: You may believe you have a great idea for a franchise business, but, believing doesn’t make it so. Facts, do. So, go get them.
The Franchise King®, Joel Libava, is a top franchise expert. He’s written over 2,000 different articles on franchise ownership and personally consults with people who are looking to buy a profitable franchise. Go here to find out how The Franchise King® can help you become your own boss.