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...

 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...

The district managers require a multi-unit vision to supervise the operations of several stores and deal with the variety of challenges, environments, opportunities, and people that come with overseeing a large organization. 

But those skills and abilities have to be developed with the tools and the knowledge that’ll help them overcome the difficulties of that multi-unit leadership and do the job successfully. The American Franchise Academy has identified seven critical responsibilities of a district manager, and in this blog post, we’ll be discussing the sixth responsibility: market. 

Did you miss the prior responsibilities? Subscribe to our YouTube Channel to review the rest of the District Manager’s playlist!

This responsibility has to do with all the local store marketing that happens in the units of their district. Among the activities the district managers have to perform, they must support and execute the franchisor-driven marketing campaigns in...

Many people believe that when you invest in a franchise, you're going to get everything you need to be successful. As mentioned by my friend Brent Veach, a multi-unit franchisee who owns 55 Del Taco stores, nothing could be further from the truth.

Don’t miss my YouTube interview with him here! 

Franchisees need systems, which means that they require a set of processes, that also have a series of procedures within, and once these are all implemented the right way, together they produce a consistent result day in and day out. 

Think of systems like a car. When you turn the car on, a lot of processes and procedures have to happen simultaneously to make the car run and take you from point A to point B.

It’s the same when it comes to a business: you have to have those systems, processes, and procedures so your team is able to execute, day in and day out. When this happens, the business will produce a consistent result.

When you invest in a franchisee, you do get...

There is a big confusion in the franchise world: franchisees believe that when they acquire the rights to duplicate a brand, they will receive everything they need to be successful. The reality is they only get one part of the formula. This causes unfulfilled expectations, constant frustration, tremendous struggle, hard work, and sometimes sadly, even failure.

But there’s a way to fix that to make the most of these businesses. I have found that there are 12 keys to being a successful franchisee. And I have portrayed them in The Franchise Fix, a book that collects my 30 plus years of experience in this industry, working with franchisors and franchisees and running operations, units, and brands.

Do you want to discover those best practices and how applying them can help you obtain financial and time freedom? 

How The Franchise Fix was born

After a 25-year career in the franchise world, I wanted to take a sabbatical and then go back into the corporate world to...

We can’t deny that the increase in the costs around the world makes it more difficult for small business owners and franchisees to operate their business, maintain their team, grow, and achieve their goal of time and financial freedom. That’s why knowing how to increase sales in your business, even in these uncertain times, is key to protecting your profitability.

To do so, you need to make some adjustments. This is critical not only because sales are the oxygen of every business, but also to have a healthy and prosperous company in the short, mid, and long term.

Do you have a succession plan for your franchise? Review these recommendations to build one.

Increase Sales in your Business with These Strategies

To boost your revenue you can increase the number of customers to grow your transaction count or have each customer pay you more either by increasing your prices or influencing their buying decisions improving, therefore, your average ticket.

Top-performing...