Timing is Everything

I love the quote from the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland, “If you knew time as well as I do, you wouldn't spend time wasting it”. Timing can really make or break so many things in life. It's very important to understand the timing of getting into the right franchise business.?

I recently worked with a person who was in the mist of franchise research when he decided to pivot and look at existing businesses to buy. He slowed the process way down and was infrequently keeping calls and tasks with the franchisors. He also decided to take a three-week vacation with his family. When he finally got back around to speaking with the franchisors and wanting to speak with franchise owners for a concept? felt could be a good fit for him, it was too late. Someone else had gotten through their due diligence process and bought the area that he had wanted.?

It was very disappointing for him. Despite me asking early in the process if he had the time to commit to the research, a few hours per week, and his commitment to that, he lost his way and lost focus. Luckily, we were able to pivot to another similar concept that worked well for him, but that added another 45 days to his process and delayed the opening goal he originally had.

Franchising Process

When I work with my clients, it begins with completing their Entrepreneurial Profile, a link I send to them. That typically takes 30 minutes at most. Then we schedule a two hour meeting to build out their business model which includes their overall goals, strategies, criteria, and budgets. In that meeting we discuss the total due diligence process and the time it takes to get through it. We establish goals for the overall? time frame to get through it, so we can break it down in reasonable chunks to get through on a weekly basis. It can take about 20-25 hours of research on any single franchise concept. Most people benchmark a few together in the research process. A typical due diligence process can take anywhere from 30 to 90 days average.?

It's really important to recognize that as you look at franchises, there could be other people looking at the same franchises in the same areas, especially if you are considering a high growth area. Because of the competitive nature of this, you want to make sure that you're getting all of your facts together, but really doing it in a timely way.?

Getting Your Business Started

When you're looking in these large major metros, you may find the landscape changes in terms of availability of these businesses every 30 to 90 days. You really want to make sure you get those facts together, of course, but also take care with your time in making sure you get to a decision that allows you to get that business started.?

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