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Necessity |
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Not all
advisers are necessary depending on your circumstances.
If you have funds, you may not need a bank, and if you
have time, experience and and expertise you may not need
a consultant. There are many more advisers in
addition to the ones listed here,
but these are the most common and many others are
ones that you will be aware of as general business advisers,
such as marketing agencies and sales
agents.
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Overlap |
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Some of the roles of the advisers
overlap. For example, banks and solicitors will
often give some limited advice and guidance, and
consultants may overlap with recruitment specialists or
territory mapping specialists. You may wish to
start with the basics (the lawyer and the bank if you
need funds) and get their advice on what other advice
you need
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Qualification |
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You should check and consider the
qualifications and experience of any adviser. For
example, any solicitor must be regulated by the Law
Society (check their website). Anyone can call
themselves a consultant so check for a relevant
qualification such as a MBA or other business
qualification, and ask and check their experience in
franchising. Most specialist franchise advisers
will be a member of the BFA, so check their website once
you have
chosen. | | |
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A franchise specialist solicitor is a necessity.
Their
role is to draft
your legal documents and advise you as
the network expands. Any document written or adapted by
a
non-specialist may have problems that could be expensive mistakes if
there are claims against
you by franchisees or could fail to protect you and
your network properly. |
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The consultants' role varies but can include advising
you on setting up the franchise, helping with financial
modelling, writing
or helping you to write a
prospectus,
manual and marketing material, supporting you with your network expansion,
recruitment, liaison with
the solicitor. Not all franchisors use a consultant but it
can save time. |
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The banks' role can include lending
to you in relation to the
establishment of the franchise network. You should speak
to the franchise departments of the banks anyway to
ensure
that they are familiar with your network. They will then
be ready to lend
money if needed by franchisees to buy and set up
their franchised business. |
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Accountants,
tax advisers
and book-keepers |
| Their
role
is to advise on the tax and financial aspects
of your business and to make sure that your
accounts are prepared properly. They can also monitor or prepare
your franchisees' accounts and check that the reported revenue
from franchisees matches the records. |
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Manual Writers or Publishers
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| They
overlap with the franchise consultants but focus
specifically on
writing or publishing your operating manual which sets out
for franchisees how they need to operate their
franchised business in accordance with your system. Not all franchisors
use a manual writer, and they are usually
not needed if you use a
consultant. | |
| In
the franchise sector, their role can be one of two
things. It can either mean recruitment of
personnel for you (such as franchise managers) or it
can mean that they help you to recruit
new franchisees (and the role can vary from advertising or
advising you through to carrying out initial vetting
for you). Not all franchisors use
them. | |
| There
are many other advisory businesses, some of
which are general business advisers such as marketing
agencies, business coaches and general consultants. Other franchising advisers can
include training providers, media and communications, franchise sales
brokers, franchise insurance brokers, other financial
advisers. | |
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