How to Franchise your Business Well

Sarah Beaumont, founder of ColourWheel Art Classes, offers some expert advice if you’re considering franchising your business

After spending many years in HR and going through a second redundancy due to a change of company ownership, Sarah Beaumont wanted to make a change.

In her mid-40s, the reality of not being in control of her future was exasperating and depressing.

Negative result

“I wanted to be the master of my own destiny,” Sarah explains. “As an employee, it was frustrating to see how mismanagement of a business had a direct and negative result on my employment.

“I wanted to run a business that put best practice first, focused on exceptional customer service and delivered good value for money.”

A large part of Sarah’s career had focused on training and the natural route was for her to pursue this part of her skill set.

“I believed there was a market for well organised and highly structured art classes,” she says. “Delivering training in the workplace is the same as delivering classes to customers - it’s something I know how to do well.”

Sarah worked with a talented artist with excellent teaching credentials to produce a balanced and exciting art curriculum. Initially focusing on students with little or no experience, Sarah set up four art classes in two locations - Maidenhead and Aylesbury.

“I was delighted they were such a success from the start,” she says. “I sold out some of the classes during the first term and the classes continued to be very successful, with many of our students rebooking term after term.”

Logical step

Growing the business was the next logical step, but the big question for ColourWheel was how to achieve it? It required either opening and managing new locations remotely or selling franchises into new areas.

“Staffing classes in different locations would have been problematic,” Sarah says. “Logistically, you have to deal with recruitment, venue hire, stock levels, quality control and managing staff.

“At a distance, this can be diff icult. Any staff absence would mean disruption to the classes and a poor student experience, which is unacceptable to our customers.

“My thinking was that by franchising the locations, you’re working with someone who has a vested interested in the success of their classes and their commitment is therefore much greater than that of a manager.”

ColourWheel Art Classes started recruiting franchisees last January. However, going down the franchising route presents its own challenges. Your success is dependent on your franchisees’ success and, especially when starting out, it’s important you recruit the right people.

A ColourWheel Art Classes franchise is a business that’s run on a part-time basis, but you don’t want to recruit franchisees who think that means an easy ride, according to Sarah.

She adds: “We’ve been blessed with our ColourWheel partners. They’re all hardworking, committed and successful. On top of that, they’re a joy to work with - it’s a pleasure to help them grow and develop their businesses.”

Expert advice

Be brutally honest with yourself is Sarah’s advice for anyone thinking of franchising their business: “Is your business sustainable in other areas of the country, not just in the area you originally started operations? It might work for you where you are, but you must be certain the model works elsewhere.”

Planning is key, she says: “You need to make sure you document everything. Detailed processes and procedures are required to make sure your franchisees are able to run their businesses well and in the right way.

“Some parts of your business may seem obvious to you, but that doesn’t mean it’s obvious to someone else, so even the most basic tasks should be covered in detail in a comprehensive operations manual.”

Sarah believes recruiting a franchisee is much like starting a relationship: “You’ll probably be delighted when a prospect tells you they love your brand and would like to join the network, but are they suitable?

“The relationship between franchisee and franchisor is a long one, so you must make sure you’re compatible, that the prospective franchisee is capable, shares your brand values and has the drive and ambition to make a success of their business.

“If you’re not sure, they probably aren’t. In which case, to maintain the integrity of your brand, you should say no.”

Having a robust infrastructure in place is also important. “Your franchisees require significant management, training and support, not just at the start of their journey, but throughout the franchise term,” Sarah says.

“You need to make sure you have the staff in place to meet their requirements. At the start of your franchising career, this can be just you, but you may be surprised at how much work just a few franchisees generate.

“You need to have the finances in place to make sure you can acquire additional resource in a timely manner to meet your franchisees’ needs.”

Know your weaknesses

It’s great to know what you’re good at, but it’s more important to know where your weaknesses lie, Sarah advises.

She says: “For example, you might be brilliant at marketing your product or service locally, but it’s very different to market nationally. Be prepared to hire expertise where it’s needed. It’s an expense, but will save you money in the future.”

New franchisors should think longterm, Sarah says, adding: “Franchising is not a way to generate cash for your business - franchisee purchase fees are used to set up and train your new starters, develop products or services that allow your franchisees’ businesses to grow and remain competitive and help fund brand awareness along with franchisee recruitment.”

Sarah says working and managing a business yourself can be lonely, while working with a network of like-minded and entrepreneurial people can be a deeply satisfying experience: “As a franchisor, you have the best of both worlds.

“You run your own business in the way you want and think best, but you also have a network of colleagues with their own local experience to collaborate with.”