Business Expansion Ideas From A Guy Who's Done It
How to turn your business into the next Window Cleaning Franchise
Franchising is a system of allowing people to buy into your business concept. Instead of spending time endlessly trying to hire great employees and building new locations, you get people to pay you to work for you. Let me repeat what I just said. Franchising is a system of allowing people to buy into your business concept. Instead of spending time endlessly trying to hire great employees and building new locations, you get people to pay you to work for you. People pay you to teach them how to run a window cleaning business using your name and model. Plus they pay you every month for the privilege of using your system. This is an amazing way to conduct business.
There are many great books on how to franchise your business. I read 17 of them in 4 months several years ago. The key to a great franchise is understanding you're no longer in the window cleaning business, but now you're in the franchising business. This will allow you to think big! But what do you need?
You must have a working model with at least a few locations all operating profitably.
- You'll need to understand the franchise laws in each state and how to use them to your advantage.
- You'll need to have a master plan for potential franchisees to buy into. Think big.
- You're going to need a lot of cash to pay lawyers and accountants. ($50-$75K)
- You're going to need even more cash to pay the states for approvals. ($10-$25K)
- You're going to need even more cash for marketing and publicity.
- Great PR sells franchises.
- You're now in the business of "Selling Success".
(There are several ways to sidestep many of these fees. More on this in a later blog posting.)
Painting the big picture is an essential part of your Franchise Story. You're going to need to become a great salesman to convince people to trust you with tens of thousands of dollars to go into business with you.
One of the most important elements of becoming a franchise is uniqueness. Ask yourself if you truly understand what makes your business unique and does that transfer to different parts of the country. Calling yourself Bob the Window Cleaner and offering basic window cleaning services is hardly unique. Calling yourself Professional Window Cleaners of (Insert City Name Here) and positioning yourself as a professional window and solar panel cleaner is very unique.
Do you think people from Newport Beach, California to Newport, Rhode Island will like your franchise? If so, perhaps franchising is in your future.