Who said this was easy?

It’s hard work this franchising lark. I’m ashamed to say that I was talking to someone the other day at a networking event who wanted to franchise his business and the thought that came into my head was “don’t do it”. When I started down this road, I didn’t realise how many ups and downs lay ahead of me and how long things take!!! I read the other day that to get a franchisee on board takes an average of 7 months and I can say that’s absolutely true.

With those sorts of lead times it’s pretty obvious why it’s so hard to keep your motivation levels up sometimes. Oh and also I didn’t realise how frustrating it would be to receive ‘fishing’ emails from potential franchisees. Those that ask for information packs and have no intention of buying – they’re just shopping around to see what’s out there.

So as a result, I’ve had to change the way I’ve marketed the franchise now. Instead of simply sending out an information pack, I now have a chat with the person on the phone first and if appropriate arrange to meet them. This definitely cuts down on the ‘shoppers’. Good thing is though is that I’ve started marketing the franchise again now.

I can say without a doubt that this first year of marketing the franchise has been incredibly hard work, but that’s about to pay off shortly – so watch this space and all being well, I should have an announcement to make soon!!