People tends to forget the essence of franchising – No, it’s not getting a proven system in exchange for a franchise fee and royalty – it is a definition of franchise.
The essence of franchising is networking.
That’s why owning a unit from a franchise that only has 5 units in total is not recommended – it’s even an absurd way to enter franchise industry.
A franchise true power is the ability to network with other franchise unit owners – the more, the better. Not only you can trade best practices on how to run your franchise unit, but also you actually can get some business from them, even do business with them.
Franchise owners are professionals and entrepreneurs – They usually have their own network and team. They have their own inner-circle members. You can enter the inner-circle by build a genuine relationship with them. You may reap what you sow later on.
The key is being nice and genuine – don’t approach them by doing what a sales and marketing person did – It’s useless, and they may avoid you all the way.
You may find that networking and doing business with other franchise owners are actually more lucrative than the franchise itself – so, I conclude that buying a franchise is like buying a membership to enter the network of business owners.
That’s why you have to buy a franchise unit that is NOT your hobbies or interests-based. Buy a franchise unit due to the franchise’s business and network potential. With tens of thousand units worldwide, a McDonald unit would be nice, but it is way, way much expensive for the rest of us.
How to network with other franchise unit owners
Do a basic business relationship building – have a general conversation early on, then move to business conversation later.
Tell them a bit about yourself, out of topic. They might interest in your personal life than the business itself. But, by doing so you will get their respect and trust – important in any business dealings.
Contact regularly with them – at times, request for a business lunch or dinner – schmooze them. Then, soon it might be the right time to offer some business opportunities or request for contact from their inner-circle.
The basic rule of thumb, profits each other – don’t ask them something and not giving back to them in return. And, oh, don’t forget about timing – it’s very important.
There’s there :)
Ivan Widjaya
Franchisee networker