Tag Archives: Delegation

Business Development, Business Strategy, FAQ, Sales & Marketing, Start-ups

Does Your Business Have What It Takes To Become A Franchise?

I have been involved in franchising dozens of businesses, at last count over 60. Some from concept and some where we converted an existing business to the franchised model and I am really happy to deal with either pathway with one really important proviso.

The business owner must have a reasonable understanding on what it takes to run a business successfully – franchised or not.

And unfortunately I have concluded this is easier said than done.

Done well, franchising does help to structure a business so that it has the best chance of success because franchising helps to put some great business practices in place. Systems and money management being at the top of the list. But overall, I have found that in most businesses, there are some aspects about business success which need to be reviewed and without sound business experience, creating a franchise is not likely to succeed. Continue reading →

Business Development, Business Strategy, FAQ, Sales & Marketing, Start-ups

Building a Sellable Business: 10 Things Often Overlooked

Eventually, every entrepreneur realizes they cannot work in their business forever. For most entrepreneurs, this is the time they begin thinking of exit. Here are ten things you should think about before that faithful day.

Standardization

The first thing I will like to mention is standardizing services or products. In the onset of a business, an entrepreneur figures things out as he/she develops. As time elapses, the entrepreneur figures out what works and settles into a way of doing business. This usually happens at the $100,000 mark. The problem with this is the knowledge is embedded in the head of the owner. The owner often fails to communicate this knowledge to new hires. There is kind of an “unspoken standard” or “way of doing things”. People learn “the unspoken way” haphazardly. By not standardizing, the owner’s loses 50% of the value of the business when it is time to sell. Nobody wants to buy a business when all the knowledge is in the owners’ head and if they do there are usually lots of contingencies tied to the deal.

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