This is the step where you start engaging with the franchise companies. In this step, it is important that you begin with a blank sheet of paper and are completely free of bias and prejudice. I have watched clients overlook some great business opportunities because of a personal predisposition. In reality, these clients just didn’t have enough knowledge about the opportunity. It is easy to fall into the trap of “I don’t know enough about it, so I’m just going to ignore it.” Instead, you want to approach this phase with the attitude of “I don’t know enough, and I am open to learning more.” It is easy to reject an opportunity at a later time, once you understand it well.
You also want to use a structured approach for the investigation process. Learn the details about the support a franchisor will provide you – real estate, build-out, operations, marketing, software platforms, customer acquisition, recruiting, vendor relationships, and a host of other items are important to investigate. In this phase, you also want to talk to other franchisees in the same system, so you can get a feel for what “a day in the life of a franchisee” looks like, and can validate questions about franchisor support, potential start-up challenges, day-to-day operations, financial targets, etc. If your research sources are simply Googling a company or visiting its website, that is not a thorough way to investigate. Once you have achieved a solid understanding of each franchisor, it becomes time to open the fourth gate.