Buying a Franchise? Make The Trend Your Friend

Make The Trend Your Friend

 Not that long ago I owned a computer repair franchise.  Our target market consisted of small businesses that needed help installing, maintaining and upgrading their vital information technology assets as well as residential clients with one or two computers and maybe a home network.

Ten years ago this was very good business to be in. Small businesses were starting up in every office building and they were eager to have a helping hand with their technology. Residential clients were adding second and third computers and were ready to pay for help setting up a home network and getting that stubborn wireless printer to work.  And - bad for computers but good for business - lots of new viruses were flooding the internet crashing hard drives and sending their evil and malicious malware to everyone in your address book.

What could go wrong?

The trend changed.

Gadgets like smartphones, laptops and notebook computers began displacing the traditional desktop computer which was the meat-and potatoes of the repair business. And those desktop models .. the prices kept dropping to the point where the fix vs. replace decision point more and more favored replacement. Not much money to be made there.

Then, in addition to Best Buys’ Geek Squad entering the market with their massive advertising budget, emerging remote diagnostic software allowed low cost start-ups to provide competitive diagnostic services over the internet without rolling a truck with a technician to the customers site. Ouch!

And those viruses?  They didn't disappear but anti-virus software quickly caught up and significantly reduced the worst outbreaks.

So, you might ask, what did the Franchisor do to protect their Franchisee base and attract new Franchisees as the world changed and the original (and successful) business model evolved?

Not much.

They were caught in a downtrend and did not have the vision to see how unrelenting market forces were changing their business. Recruiting new prospects became more and more difficult as it became apparent that success would be entirely dependent on the efforts of the Franchisee with little help from the Franchisor or inherent market growth.

Make The Trend Your Friend!

Now a Franchise Industry Blogger, my very first bit of advice to anyone searching for a franchise opportunity is to read up on the macro and micro industry trends in whichever market niche interests them. It’s pretty easy to grasp the notion that starting up and becoming successful in a franchised business is going to be a lot easier when the tide of customer interest is rising rather than working twice as hard in an market niche that is projected to be flat or even negative over the next years.

As common sense as it seems, many prospects neglect to perform this basic due diligence for one of two reasons:

• Blind Enthusiasm. If you have dreamed your whole life of running your very own VCR movie rental company, you are less likely to want to consider the demise of that business model.
• Clear, concise and pertinent third party market research information is hard to find.

The former is shame on me. If as a potential business owner I cannot see the forest for the trees with some basic understanding of market trends and drivers then I will probably flounder or fail in any business attempt.

That latter is shame on you, the Franchisor.  There is no better way to positively differentiate your business concept early in the selection process than by offering proof that the trend for your business is indeed going be the Franchisees friend.

Every franchise sales page should inform and convince the reader that your franchise concept is well positioned to advantage of inherent market forces that will make customers want your product or service today and every day over the next ten years.

As a Franchisor you already paid for up-to-date market research to determine the opportunity for franchising and developing your 10 year growth projections. Share that information in the form of quotes or a PDF file (with permission of the author of course) to let the prospective Franchisee in on the great news.

Finally, use that information to craft a powerful story about your franchises success cocktail:

• Add one part great business concept and a world-class franchise system.
• Mix in one part hard working and dedicated Franchisee with a well conceived and executed marketing program.
• Stir in one part projected substantial year-over-year market niche growth.

Enjoy: Well deserved success!