Congratulations! You’ve signed on the dotted line. Now what? It’s time to get to work, but where do you start? There’s a lot to do when you buy a franchise, but thankfully, there’s also a tremendous amount of support at your disposal. Here are five action steps you can take to harness that support and use it to fuel your franchise success.
1. Review Your Documentation
When you sign on the dotted line, the franchisor sets their own backend system in motion. You’ll receive documentation, guides, marketing collateral, and other resources to help you get your new franchise off the ground successfully.
Before you take your first step, review what’s available to you through the franchise. Make a list of the assets you have in your back pocket and the resources you have at your disposal. Keep this on hand as you make decisions on how to proceed and who to hire to help you get the ball rolling in your new business.
2. Create a Checklist
There’s a lot that needs to happen in order to get your business off the ground. You need to set up shop, advertise that you’re in the area, and form relationships that’ll help you drum up business. All of this takes a lot of time, work, and thought.
Before you start moving, hit the pause button and make a checklist for yourself. Decide which tasks take priority and which ones are the best use of your time. Laying out all of the tasks that need to be done is the first step in creating your launch roadmap.
3. Map Out Your Critical Action Steps
You’re a franchisee, which means you’ll now be tasked with wearing many hats. One of the first hats you must put on is project manager. With this hat on, you can plan out how you will get your new business up and running as quickly, smoothly, and affordably as possible.
Create a phase one, phase two, and phase three of your franchise launch to help fine tune your priorities. Then, map out the tasks in each phase. Assign dates to each of them to help keep you and the team or contractors you hire, on task toward your bigger end goal.
4. Find a Location
One of the biggest tasks on your to-do list, and the most critical will be to find a location. You might’ve had somewhere in mind to set up shop before you bought your franchise, but now it’s time to officially plant your stake in the ground. This is true even if you run a home-based franchise. You’ll want to choose a location in your house other than your kitchen table to set up shop.
As you start narrowing down the location, consider where your target market frequents, where you will look most professional hosting meetings with clients and customers, and where you’ll feel most comfortable working every day.
5. Hire Help
It’s incredibly difficult to build a franchise alone. Regardless of whether you choose to DIY your franchise marketing, or take on another important task in your franchise, you’ll need to reach out for some help at some point—even if that means hiring some contractors to help you complete small milestones and goals. As soon as you buy your franchise, make it a priority to bring the right people on board to help you build, market, and deliver your products or services.
It’s Launch Time!
Launch time is an exciting time and one that requires a strategic approach with the right people on board to help. By following these five steps, you’ll get started on the right foot and make your franchise come off the ground more successfully.
Susan Guillory is the President of Egg Marketing & Communications, a marketing firm specializing in content writing and social media management. She’s written three business books, including How to Get More Customers With Press Releases, and frequently blogs about small business and marketing on sites including Forbes, AllBusiness, The Marketing Eggspert Blog, and Tweak Your Biz. Follow her on Twitter @eggmarketing.