For a organisation to go down the route of franchising itself there has been a lot of assessment as in essence the owners of the firm have to leave go of some of the day to day control if they opt for this mode of growth. It is in the owners best interests that the finest candidates are selected to be franchisees as this will make the most of their decision to Franchise.
Sometimes owners of a business decide to adopt the services of a franchise organisation to recruit and select franchisees but in the main they handle it within the business. If this is the case it is important that they realise that they are not trying to find a carbon copy of themselves. They are presumably confident entrepreneurs who have had the ability to go it alone. What they need to locate for their Franchise Opportunity is a considerably toned down version. Someone with their skills and drive would in all probability find it difficult to stay within the boundaries of the rules and would require a lot of maintenance in order to restrict him or her.
So the main criteria for the company to look for when identifying someone to take up their Franchise For Sale are as follows:
First and foremost establish if they have the investment capabilities in line with your requirements. No matter how good the individual may seem if he hasn’t got the money there is no point wasting time on him by getting into further conversation. This should be a qualifying question for your marketing plan. Whether you’re marketing on line, at a franchise event or in the press do highlight that there will be an investment required otherwise you can waste a lot of time merely getting rid of the enquirers who were unaware of the money involved.
Make sure that they have some pertinent experience but ideally not in the exact sector that you operate in. If an individual has already been involved in a similar industry it can be very tricky to get them on board doing things your way. A lot of time can be taken up dealing with suggestions that you have already thought about and rejected or that simply will not work for your franchise opportunity. The sorts of experiences that are likely to be helpful to you will vary depending on your franchise sector but usually skills such as people management, sales skills and problem solving will fit in well with most franchise opportunities.
Lastly make certain that you feel that you could work with the individual on a quite close basis. There is typically a lot of interaction with the franchisee, especially at the start of new territory and it may even be that you will be the person in charge of their training.
Even after going through this process it is highly unlikely that you will make the right decision for every franchisee that you enlist. It is therefore best before you start the process therefore that you have a robust mechanism for performance assessment and termination of contract so that you are not stuck with someone who clearly not right for your company.

