Franchising: Is there ever enough information?
Last week, Rod and I attended the informative DEEDI Franchising Workshop which was held at Spring Hill. DEEDI host this event every year, and unfortunately it’s a once of event.
I spoke to our contacts at the Department after the workshop and fingers crossed we may be able to have one of these super workshops here in the Redlands early next year.
Franchising is one of the most popular business structures here in Australia with over 600,000 franchised businesses. We’ve even surpassed the US which was originally the home of the franchised model!
What really came through loud and clear through all the presentations was that franchisees do not ever do enough due diligence before they enter into their franchised businesses. The rule of thumb is that for every $1,000 spent purchasing a franchised operation there should be 1 hour of research done, so for instance if a franchised operation costs $250,000 that’s 250 hours worth of research and investigations that should be undertaken before you sign on the dotted line!
During the workshop we heard from; the head of the Franchise Council of Australia, a body who represent both franchisors and franchisees, Jason Gerhke, a learned ex-franchisee, who now runs his own consultancy which specialises in franchised operations, a legal expert on franchised models and a McDonalds franchisee who owns 3 McDonalds here in Queensland. A fantastic selection of speakers who informed all who attended on so many aspects of the franchised model. If you would like further information, please do not hesitate to contact us on 1800 282 208, or by email.
Melanie Lavelle-Maloney
Contact First Business Solutions,
Contact First operates the Redland City Business Grow program, a free on-site, confidential business advisory and mentoring service, which is an initiative of Redland City Council.
Posted by Melanie Lavelle-Maloney on 19 Oct 2010