Frequently Asked Questions by Franchisors
I need to advertise, but how do I protect my trade secrets at the same time?
I'm ready to franchise my business, but don't know where to start. Can you help?
I have a business to sell which is a franchise. Do I list it here?
What level of enquiries can I expect from listing with Biz.for.Sale?
What degree of detail should I provide when submitting my listing?
If I get several enquiries a day, how would I handle them?
I developed my franchise and now want to find master country franchisors outside of South Africa. How do I do this?
How do I go about making changes to my listing?
On my Trial Listing, you have left out my website address! Why?
I already have my own website, so why would I need to be listed here?
As a Trialist, I got well over 10 leads a month.
But now I'm a full subscriber that seems to have dropped. Why?
I need a list of all the enquiries I've had to check we've followed up and assess conversions.
Can you send one to me?
Are there any particularly good examples of well laid out listings that I can look at to get ideas?
Please remove my listing. Is there further info you require?
| I need to advertise, but how do I protect my trade secrets at the same time? |
This is a standard dilemma faced by anyone marketing a franchise which, in it's explanation, may give competitors the seed of an idea to get going with an opposition operation. The trick is to explain enough about the franchise in the listing without giving any specific secrets away. Often this can be done by talking about the benefits to the franchisee of operating one of these franchises. At this early stage of enquiry that's the subject that most interests the potential buyer of your franchise.
The "Reply Pack Email" that you prepare for the franchisee can consist largely of information on earnings and a "Non-Disclosure Agreement" which they must sign and return before you part with more information. If they are not prepared to, then this is hardly a serious enquiry in the first place. It also heightens the sense of mystery and reinforces the idea that you do hold trade secrets to a high earning franchise idea.
| I'm ready to franchise my business, but don't know where to start. Can you help? |
Nope. We are not specialists in that area . . . . . but others are !
We suggest you visit our Consultants & Facilitators section. These firms are focussed on providing the services necessary to plan for a successful franchise development and to put in place the necessary documentation, training programmes and procedures to ensure an efficient operation. They also help you develop your marketing plans and generally provide ongoing consulting services whenever needed.
The Franchise Association of S.A. (known as FASA) is an excellent resource in terms of providing information that will help you prepare for creating the new franchise vehicle. They also have a publication available which will detail the normal steps to follow in developing the franchise model and will also be able to give some limited advice. Their website will also provide links to franchise facilitators who belong to FASA.
If your budget is limited then we would suggest you speak to several different facilitators and also specify upfront as to what you are expecting to spend. This is the type of project that can be done at different levels, with obviously different costs.
| I have a business to sell which is a franchise. Do I list it here? |
Probably not. The Biz.for.Sale website is split into two sections, Businesses for Sale and Franchising SA (Business Opportunities).
This section, Franchising SA (Business Opportunities), is where the franchisors (who own the brand) promote the sales of new (to be established) outlets which will be fresh start-ups. They are not established businesses.
If yours is an established, running businesses with a trading history (even if possibly dormant) which is being offered for resale then it should be listed under the Businesses for Sale section. The fact it is a franchised operation is incidental.
Remember that visitors to this website who are looking for an established trading business would be looking in the Businesses for Sale section and would miss your offering if it was listed incorrectly in the Franchising SA (Business Opportunities) section.
| What level of enquiries can I expect from listing with Biz.for.Sale? |
The visitor response will vary enormously from brand to brand. We find that the lower priced franchises with a well recognised name definitely attract the most enquiries. That is also helped if the business model is easy to understand. Higher upfront capital requirements, unfamiliar brand names and complicated services or product applications tend to deter enquiries.
The conversion rate of enquiries to sales are generally higher with the brands that draw fewer enquiries, and the most recognisable brands often draw the more curious than the serious. At the end of the day it's the conversions (or sales) that really count, and we are not provided with these figures by the franchisors. Some brands receive two or more enquiries per day while others may only receive two a month. If the latter makes two sales per month and the former only one, then what value counting the enquiries ?
| What degree of detail should I provide when submitting my listing? |
The short answer is .... as much as possible! Our experience is that the more information that is tendered, the more the prospective franchisee feels comfortable with the franchisor. There needs to be a feeling of full disclosure and the opinion forming with the franchisee that the franchisor is open, communicative and supportive. This assessment will always be made and what seems like a shortage of information will often be interpreted negatively by the person viewing the ad.
Try to address the issues that the franchisee will be concerned about:
- What skills do I need?
- What training and launch assistance is offered?
- What lifestyle is offered here?
- How much unencumbered cash will I need until the cashflows are positive?
- Will this franchisor be supportive, and in what manner?
- What's the history of the brand in the market?
- What's planned and expected for the brand in the years ahead?
| If I get several enquiries a day, how would I handle them? |
You should have an email based information pack prepared which would typically consist of:
• more detailed information
- financial info on different outlet structures
- current locations and required locations
- the skills requirement for a franchisee
- the financial and capital requirements, including working capital
• a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)
• details on how the sales negotiation would proceed after the NDA is signed
This would typically give the prospective franchisee enough extra information to decide on whether (s)he is suited to the franchise requirements and it is normally the return of a signed NDA that opens the more serious negotiations.
| I developed my franchise and now want to find master country franchisors outside of South Africa. How do I do this? |
Almost all franchisors advertising at Biz.for.Sale are open to sales to prospective franchisees within South Africa. But there is the situation where the franchise is owned by an offshore entity who would rather have a local master franchisor handling franchise sales on their behalf. Or the franchise brand owner may be South African based and is actively looking for a master franchisor in other countries to handle franchise sales in those areas. An entity handling franchise sales in a particular area may, or may not, be the franchise brand owner, but they are generally known as a Master Franchisor. Prospective master franchise partners can be located through this site, and you can read more here on this subject..
| How do I go about making changes to my listing? |
Just email us the details. There is a full set of instructions on the page: Amending an Existing Listing
| On my Trial listing, you've left out my website address ! |
The whole purpose of the trial listing is to enable you to assess the frequency and quality of the leads that we generate for you. If we were to publish your contact details during this period then people are inclined to pick up a phone and call. You don't know they came from us, the value of our service is underestimated, and perhaps you then decide against a good promotion opportunity. By forcing trialist enquiries through the email form for making contact you know exactly where the lead originated from.
Did you know that you can call up the following URL anytime:
http://www.franchiseopps.co.za/cgi-bin/SendFran.asp?Identity=xxx
( where xxx is your ID Ref No ) and the system will mail you a comprehensive list of all enquiries that have been filled on the website. You can then call for copies of original enquiries where needed.
| I already have a website, why would I need to be listed here ? |
The Biz.for.Sale website has between 200 to 700 unique visitors on any given day. These are focussed individuals looking to assess the different franchises on offer. If your product is of interest, then we've made it easy for them to contact you. We've generated the lead and it's then up to you. Your competitors are probably listed and, in your absence, you may not get the opportunity to present your franchise to the potential franchisee.
So, in a nutshell, we generate leads and are certainly not in competition to you. If you are a subscribed member then your website address would be listed and we would normally be diverting traffic to your website. Which leads to the next question.....
| As a trialist, I got well over 10 leads a month. But as a subscriber that seems to have dropped. Why.? |
This is a common perception, but with investigation we find it to be unsubstantiated.
Because trialist listings do not publish direct contact details, prospective franchisees can only contact you via our email forms. You then know exactly from where they have come. But once you subscribe then all your details are published. that makes you more accessible and the "instant gratification" types lunge for the phone. Unless you are grilling all phone ins and enquiries from your website, you wouldn't know the Biz.for.Sale origin. We do have an auto-reponder which will mail you a full listing of people who fill in forms, but we can't track someone who telephones you.
There is no doubt that your enquiry level will increase as a subscriber as your exposure on the site is dramatically elevated, but you need to check proactively on your side to determine the source of your leads. And your website hosting provider should be able to supply you with access stats which should identify click-through stats from our site as "referrers". We can track click-throughs and give you info on that but we obviously don't know who the visitors were.
| I need a list of all the enquiries I've had to check we've followed up and to assess conversions. Can you send one to me? |
Yes we can, but you can get one automatically from the system. Simply call up the following URL in your browser, substituting the three digit Franchise Reference No. for the XXX string....
http://www.franchiseopps.co.za/cgi-bin/SendFran.asp?Identity=XXX
From that listing you may want copies of the original email enquiries resent to you. Just drop a mail to us at info@bizforsale.co.za identifying the enquiring person and the date and we'll forward the original email back to you.
| Are there any particularly good examples of well laid out listings that I can look at to get ideas? |
Yes, different listings use different methodologies, some of which are excellent examples. You can see.......
Franki Bananaz
Makes excellent use of good atmosphere pics to convey a vibey and funky concept and a fun lifestyle for the operator.
Technovideo
Repeats a complex logo that needs magnification as the mini logo cannot show this detail. This has also been done for LawnPro The Technovideo listing also shows a typical storefront and, most importantly, a pic of the machine that dispenses the goods.
The Courier Guy
A pure services company which, to make the conversion from browser to enquiry, uses pics to convey a sense of friendly and efficient service, backed up with a comprehensive and modern looking fleet of vehicles in a pristine depot location. This listing also uses a "strike-out" method of showing the available and sold areas available to prospective franchisees.
| Please remove my listing. Is there any further info you require? |
Yes, there is.......... We need to know how to archive the listing.
We need to know whether to move the listing to "Closed / Hard-to-Find", "Refused" or to simply remove it from the franchising universe entirely.
With HARD-TO-FIND or LOST CONTACT, it informs someone searching for that particular brand that the franchise is no longer marketed and that it is probably not returning to the market. We may have lost contact with the franchisor and the brand is not necessarily "closed", but is probably not being sold. This is normally a designation we choose when you disappear off the map.
If shown as REFUSED, the franchisor has advised us that they do not want the brand shown on any of our listings in any form whatsoever. However they have agreed that we can make that information available to the visitor to pre-empt the inevitable enquiries we then receive asking why that particular well known brand cannot be found. The franchisor, in these cases, may have large pre-approved lists of franchisees waiting and they simply want to avoid extra enquiries.
If listed as REMOVED, we do not make that fact available to the public. Effectively, you would seem to disappear. In this case we warehouse the information for our own reference and so that we have a record of the fact that you want to be invisible. Storing this data will also help with relisting if the brand returns to market. This would appear to the visitor that we do not know about the existance of the brand and can frustrate them as they continue searching.
There is a page from the Visitor FAQ which is also linked to from a visitor's Null Search which explains, in visitor terms, why they cannot find a brand. Read more here...
