Franchise consultants, like consultants in a wide range of fields, are professionals who give advice on a particular course of action. In this case, franchise consultants introduce potential investors to franchise opportunities that might pique their interest and be a good personal fit.
Before coming to that conclusion, franchise consultants take a look at the investor’s previous experience, business acumen, and temperament.
While it’s true that the most salient aspect of franchise consulting is linking investors with suitable franchise opportunities, that’s not the only function that franchise consultants serve for investors and franchises.
Franchise consultants also dissect and analyze the day-to-day business operations of already franchised organizations to determine how those organizations might maximize the advantage of the franchise model.
Last, franchise consultants might provide counsel to franchised businesses in addition to resources to help those franchised businesses thrive.
Franchise Consulting Offers Multiple Revenue Streams
As you can probably tell, franchise consulting offers you at least three potent sources of potential revenue.
That’s a function of the wealth and variety of services that franchise consultants provide to investors, currently franchised organizations, and even non-franchised organizations that are looking for professional counsel on how to become franchised.
The main way that franchise consultants provide assistance, though, is through connecting investors with franchise opportunities. Franchise consultants have studied dozens of applicable opportunities and know the industry well.
That expert knowledge means that the advice franchise consultants provide to investors carries a lot more heft and incentive for serious consideration. Moreover, in their quest to steer investors to the right franchise, franchise consultants leave no stone unturned.
They help you pick the right franchise, and they also walk you through the ins and outs of developing a business plan for your franchise, communicating marketing and advertising best practices to you and helping you understand how the franchise agreement might impact your future.
Franchise Growth Still Outpacing Overall Economy
The growth among franchised businesses still outpaces growth in the overall U.S. economy, according to experts putting forward their work in the Franchise Business Economic Outlook for 2016.
The report goes on to say that the number of franchise establishments recently went up by nearly 2 percent and that franchise employment increased by nearly 4 percent. To top it all off, franchise output increased by 5.6 percent year-on-year!
Franchise consultants help investors make sense of all of these trends in the franchise industry and help them fully understand the implications in particular franchised subindustries that investors are considering. Franchise consultants will often provide more resources to investors to further encourage investors or provide information that moves them in a more promising direction.
At the culmination of this search, franchise consultants go over the finer points of several franchise disclosure documents so that investors understand the potential and general track record of the franchises in which they plan on investing. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has opened the floodgates to more information becoming available in franchise disclosure documents (FDDs).
Franchise consultants, therefore, have more information than ever to help investors understand, for instance, the litigation history, payment structure, and licensure transfer behind every franchise opportunity that comes their way.
That said, franchise consultants are also invaluable for their ability to address qualitative areas and questions like: “How will social media impact franchise marketing opportunities?” and “Is financing more readily available for some investors and franchise opportunities than others?” Those are just a few of the questions franchise consultants can help investors answer. Interested in learning more? Visit our website for more information!