Hi!

I'm Amrit Dhaliwal from Walfinch. Today we're talking about franchising. Franchising, what's franchising? So there's lots of different thoughts about this. There's lots of different nuances around franchising. There's is it a contract, Is it a thing, Is it a feeling? What is it? 

You know, so for me, I've been a franchisee in the home care space in the UK and franchising operate slightly differently around the world. I spent a bit of time in the US, I think they do it very, very well and it's been a very established market there since the 50s, where McDonald's came from. 

And then in the UK, we are a developing market within the franchising space. You've got the British Franchise association, where our leading body really focused on ethical franchising, making sure that you as a franchisee is protected, safe, whether that be through contracts or franchisors, and really have a clear understanding on how to do the whole thing. 

So headlines are…. Franchising, yes, there is a contract involved, there is a franchise agreement. The franchise agreement is always heavily weighed in the side of the franchise or because as a franchise operation, what the franchise all needs to be able to do is protect your investment so that your neighbor isn't doing something they shouldn't be doing, where you know, they've got a pink m logo for McDonald's as opposed to the golden arches. So they can protect the brand, protect your business and protect your asset, essentially that is what that agreement is all about. 

And then there's the obligations back and forth of you engaging and then providing good quality support. Headlines for franchising are, you are doing the work, it is your business. You are there driving the thing every day. The franchisor is there really as a coach, a mentor, helping you through those difficult roads, moving the roadblocks. 

When I was a franchisee, I found there was two things home care and the franchise model around it felt broken to me within the uk and so I wanted to fix it, I wanted to change it and which is why I founded Walfinch with all of the feeling, the emotional side of franchising put in there. There's a great book by a gentleman called Greg Nathan called Profitable Partnerships and it goes deeply into the relationship between franchisee and franchisor. If you are either one of those partners, I would absolutely purchase that book. It is a phenomenal manual on how to do franchising well and ethically. 

When you are looking at a franchise, you know, really think about who is leading that ship, what is their experience within franchising, within the market as a business and really what is a support going to look like? Franchising, yes, is about the brand, but it's really about the support. What are you going to get? Is someone going to pick up that phone on a really dark day, you know, Friday afternoon, when something, some doodoo set the fan? Is someone going to pick the phone up and really support you and help you through your issues? 

I think for me that really is what franchising is all about. It's about supporting entrepreneurs move from full time employment to full time self employment and trying to omit some of that risk. Is it lots of work? Absolutely. But with the right level of support, can we do it? Absolutely. 

Franchising is about the average entrepreneur, the average manager, the average business person being able to excel. It's not really necessarily about always focusing on those that are top performers because franchising is about systemizing a business. It is all about systemisation, driving somebody that is a middle level management skill to really be able to drive forward and build a successful business through policies, procedures, know how systems, good quality, support and that constant motivation and deep dive on unit level economics. And what that means is your profitability. Because a good franchisor will always focus on your profitability. 

So in a nutshell, that is what franchising is.