The various types of support, and the quality and amount thereof, will vary greatly from system to system. Different sorts of franchisee need different sorts of support and franchisors at different levels of their own development can only afford to provide more or less of any of it.

The franchisor’s job is to continually enable each of their franchisees to build a stable and successful business. Whether that business is a one-man band dog walker or a multi-unit food service outlet the franchisee needs to know how to get customers, how to properly provide the relevant services to those customers, how to make sure the finances and administration of the business are under control, and how to regularly review performance and plan improvements.

In the early days of a franchisor business which is still being run by the founder there will be very little support of any sort because they will be too busy trying to recruit more franchisees. There should be a manual which gives some information and there may well be some telephone support but that will be it.

Compare that with an established franchisor who may by now have a management team, or who can afford to outsource to franchise consultants with expertise in all areas of the business, and you’ll see that a far greater width and depth of support will be available.

Most franchises fall somewhere between the two and the best way to check whether their level of support is sufficient is to ask the existing franchisees.

Brian Duckett
Chairman