There are a lot of things you obtain when you invest in a franchise, but there's also a lot you don’t get. 

If you are considering investing in a franchise, this blog post will give you key tools to decide. If you are already a franchisee and you are struggling with your business, this information will help you understand why this is happening and what you can do to change this.

• Either way, after reading this you’ll better comprehend what you are getting from a franchise and, most important, what you do not get from a franchise. 

This will open your eyes so you can make smart decisions for the present and future of your business!

4 things you get when you invest in a franchise

When you buy a franchise, the franchisor, which is the owner of the franchise brand, gives you in return a proven brand. That means you get:

1. A defined product or service that customers are willing to exchange money for. You also get all of the guidance and training you need to ...

Many people think that if you get a franchise, you can become rich. But investing in a franchise has nothing to do with the profit you can produce over what an independent business can produce. 

• Yes, there are certain advantages. But in general terms, the franchise is still a business. 

That means that how much profit franchises make doesn’t depend on the model itself, but on your understanding of the business financials and the application of certain business principles. 

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The good news is that you can increase your chances of getting a profit by following these rules.

Know what’s the break-even point of your business

The break-even point is the number of sales or revenue that you must have to cover the business cost and have no loss, but also no profit. 

Franchises have...

The secret to multi-unit franchisee success lies behind the systems that allow them to delegate operations with confidence and focus on leadership, strategy, and growth.

• There are four systems that these franchisees implement in their organizations to do exactly this. The best part is you can learn these strategies to be just like them!

First, let’s define what is a system. This refers to a set of processes and procedures that, when implemented well, produce a predictable and consistent result. 

This is why franchising is so effective! In this business model, the founder of a proven brand created systems around a well-positioned and desirable product or a service so that you, as a franchisee, could duplicate those processes and procedures with a high level of excellence, and then obtain the expected predictable results in your own business.

Do you Have the Right Franchise? 5 Clues to Find Out

Success systems defined by the franchisor

There are three types of...

When you invest in a franchise you receive detailed step-by-step guidelines to duplicate the proven brand systems. These are contained in an operations manual, which you must follow to know how to operate the business.

Having this document is a great benefit for the new franchisee because then they can sell a desirable product or service and reproduce the brand, image, and marketing efforts the same way the franchisor does. This brings customers and revenue to their business.

But this is only half of the process in the franchise industry. And, although it is great to have a brand that brings revenue, revenue is not profit. 

• In order to have success in the long term, you also need to implement business systems, documented in a management manual. 

Today’s blog will review what should be in that management manual and the benefits of investing time and effort in this key task.

Who should write down the management manual?

Bad news the franchisor doesn’t...

A new year always comes with predictions and forecasts. In this blog post, we’ll review the things that may remain the same, what may change, and tips on how to tackle 2023 to make it the best possible year for you and your business! 

• In the previous post, we shared the good, the bad, and the lessons learned in 2022. But now I want to go over strategies to maximize the opportunities and win big in 2023. 

It all starts with facing the reality of what is happening in your business. That means knowing what's real, what's not real, and what you need to deal with because, unless you open your eyes and see what is there, you won’t be able to make it better.

Once you do that, you have to look at “the low-hanging fruit”, meaning, to detect what are the things you can do, that are under your control, to move the needle forward. Only then you’ll be able to win more than others.

That is something that the CEO of Domino’s Pizza taught me a long...

Acquiring a franchise requires a significant investment. And usually, the higher the investment, the higher the Return on Investment (ROI). 

• But are franchisees investing the right amount and in the correct places, to ensure their long-term success?

That is what we’ll dig into in this blog post. First, we’ll go over what is a normal franchise investment and then, how we at The American Franchise Academy think this process should be, to have a great impact on your business.  

What a traditional franchise investment looks like

After you have selected what you believe is the best franchise, you’ll have two types of expenses: one-time investments (or the startup cost of the franchise) and ongoing ones (which you'll constantly have).

One-Time Costs

• Franchise fee

This is the initial payment for the right to open the unit. Multi-unit franchisees will have to pay it every time they open a new unit. It could be anywhere between $20,000 to $50,000...

There is a little-known fact in the franchise industry and most franchisees only find out about it after they start to operate on their own. That’s when they realize something is missing and they have to overcome this to be successful. 

• This is the biggest secret in the franchise industry and the reason why a lot of franchisees struggle when they begin operations. 

The good news is that once you discover the truth you can take action and overcome it. The better is that on this blog post you’ll learn not only what the secret is but what you can do to achieve the goals and the dreams you expected when you decided to get into franchising.

What is this secret about?

The secret is that when you acquire a franchise you do not get everything you need to be successful. Even though a lot of expectations and assumptions are that you do, the reality is that you do not. So, what are the things that you do get? 

1. A brand created by a founder that, after...

 Being mindful of your expenses is a critical responsibility for a multi-unit franchisee. However, that alone cannot drive your long-term success. If you focus only on cost control, you won’t be able to move forward with strategic thinking and growth for your business.

• Every franchise brand has a proven financial model, we call it unit economics. 

There are five things about your business and the franchise brand that you need to be aware of to truly maximize your profits, make the most of your investment, and be successful as a top-performing franchisee. 

1. Understand the Unit Economics of the brand

This is the first step for you to be a successful franchisee. Financially speaking, you need to know the limitations of the brand you invested in. That means, knowing how to maximize the average indicators based on the experience that the franchise has had in its existing years.

Some of those indicators are:

• The average revenue of the franchise.
• The...

Choosing the right franchise is a very challenging process. Some franchisees may have already started operations and still wonder if the business concept they acquire is the ideal one or not.

How can you tell if you have the right franchise for you? What can you do if you realize that the brand you chose is not your best fit? Answering these questions as quickly as possible is very important for your success as a franchise business owner. And that’s what we’ll be exploring in this blog post.

5 ways to detect if your franchise is the right one

First, you have to understand that every franchise is different, especially in terms of the effort and the support needed to operate. The unit economics in the business model is also different, even within the same industry.

Once you are clear on this, there are several reasons that'll make you suspect that a franchise is not perfect for you.

1. You have less revenue than you calculated

In most franchises, the level of...

Building a profitable and proven brand is hard! But franchising allows entrepreneurs to own their business and achieve the time and financial freedom they want and deserve. Without franchises, many people wouldn't have the opportunity to make the American dream of business ownership a reality. 

But there’s a catch. Many franchisees come from a corporate background or haven't had a job for a little or a long time. And when they finally invest in a franchise, they realize how different it is to be an employee vs. owning a business.

Why is this? When you work for a company, your role within the organization dictates what you focus on day in and day out. Someone defines your goals and monitors your impact on the overall results. And, most importantly, you're clear on what your job is and the activities you must execute every day to accomplish the business objectives.

When you are an entrepreneur, especially a franchisee, that's not the case. You don’t have that...