How to Choose the Right School Franchisor?
Choosing the right franchisor to initiate your business is seriously a baffling task. But franchising is certainly a better and less risky option than starting your own business venture. The aspiring investors and entrepreneurs of our country have a huge scope for investment in the education sector. The education sector is growing at a fast pace in our country and offers immense business opportunity to the businessmen. There are certain things that must be taken into consideration before opting for the right franchisor for your business. This segment has been attracting a lot of business in the past few decades and has managed to grow immensely into a huge business. Choosing the right franchisor always helps to give a kick start to your business as you are always provided with a strong business plan, a famous brand name and all the advertising & marketing strategies beforehand.
The education sector has been growing leaps and bounds in the last few decades all over the world & India is no exception. Choosing the right franchisee is not an exact science; rather it’s more of an art. You have to consider the various factors such as the brand, competitors, location & numerous other things along with the financial aspect. Opting for the right franchisor, running whose franchisee would benefit you the most is a tedious task due to the large number of franchise companies in India.
Once that you have made up your mind to buy a franchise, the first and the most important step to take is choosing the franchisor, which would provide maximum benefit to your business venture. Choosing the right franchisor for starting your business isn’t as easy the decision as it seems, so, we are giving a few tips and suggestions for the aspiring franchisees who wish to invest their money in acquiring an educational franchise:
Research thoroughly:
Education based franchisee opportunities are offered by various well-known brands all across the country. You should enhance your knowledge base by exploring the numerous franchise options available to you for starting your school. A good place to start your research is the internet. You should search details of the various franchise options available online and analyze the various offers by them. Acquaint yourself with as much information as possible before start deciding and prioritizing your options.
Discuss with other franchise owners:
Choosing the right franchisor for you wouldn’t be possible without discussing with the people who already own a franchise of some school or educational institute. Their experiences and journey with the franchisor would definitely provide you with an insight of the franchise experience. It’s always a good idea to talk to other franchise owners of popular brand names to experience the ups and downs of business and get the ideas of the future probabilities.
Assess your own financial situation:
The person who is planning to own a franchise of his own should always be certain and realistic about his financial status. You should definitely be clear about what you can afford and what you can’t. Consult your accountant and get an idea of your budget and ascertain the amount of money that you can invest. You should then shortlist your choices based on your budget. This strategy would definitely help you strike the right opportunity which would give your great results in the long run. Set realistic budgets and go for a franchise that you could actually afford. This would help you reduce your stress and confusion.
Shortlist your favourites:
Once you have decided your budget and have an idea of what you actually want, shortlist your favourite franchise brands. Search out all the details of your chosen favourites. Get to know each of these brands and go thoroughly through their terms and conditions. Get as much details about each of your favourites as you can. Search online and get an exact idea of how these franchises function. Knowing such deep details about the franchise options that you have in mind would let you chose the best options for you.
Approach the shortlisted franchisors:
Once you have decided on your favourites, it is time for you to contact your chosen franchisors. Either call them or contact them in person. Contacting them would let you get enough information about their concepts and strategies. If possible interact with someone from their business development team and get sufficient knowledge about their terms and conditions. Talking with a Business Manager would help you ascertain if the territory you want is available or not. Thoroughly go through the brochures given by the franchisors. Contacting the franchise would help you know the attitude of the franchise.
Choose the best option:
When you have finished analyzing the various franchise options available to you, it is time for you to go sign that agreement with your favourite franchise. Do make sure that you have made the right decision and go through their franchise terms and conditions thoroughly before you make the move. You should opt for a franchise which suits your budget and provides you maximum benefits in the long run.
Support & training overview:
The best thing about being a franchise owner is that you get all the ground work done in advance. They provide you with all the basic elements of franchising such as the concept, market research, well-developed product and service etc. Make sure that the franchisor provides you with a detailed outline of their support and training, both operational and marketing. Always opt for franchisors that have a good training & support team and ensure to provide you proper assistance in future. Go for the franchisors with whose conditions you are comfortable and wish to pursue your franchising dream.
Utilizing the “cool off” period:
“Cool off” period refers to the specific time period under which the person has the right to cancel the contract over a specific period of time. The cool off period is as per the details given in the contract. Anyone who opts for a franchisee should definitely utilize their cool off period to the fullest. The cool off period gives you an opportunity to reconsider the agreement and the terms and conditions of the company. In case you opt to cancel your agreement, you need to give a notice regarding the same to your franchisor and then you can terminate the contract. The initial deposit is refunded but some amount might be deducted as termination penalty.
Becoming a Franchisee:
When you have made up your mind regarding the option you want to take, it’s the right time for you to check out the franchise agreement. The franchise agreement is the legal contract that lays down all the terms and conditions. It contains obligations and requirements that will bind you to operate the franchise in a specific manner. But at times the terms and provisions of the franchise agreement might not be easily understood by you and in such a case you should hire a professional attorney for help. A professional attorney would help you get detailed insight into the franchise agreement. Once you are satisfied with the agreement conditions and the support offered by the franchisor, you should sign the agreement and finalize your deal.
The day you finally sign your agreement, is the day when your new journey starts. Once you have approved to open your new school franchise, always be prepared to attend any kind of required training. The training sessions by the franchisor would help you to know better about the company whose franchise have bought. This training should help you learn the franchise system, materials, equipment and management needed to successfully run your new business.
There are hundreds of companies offering their franchisees to upcoming edupreneurs. Amongst all, SHEMROCK & SHEMFORD Group of companies is one of the most trusted brands in the field of education. The SHEMROCK play schools all over the country provide an excellent opportunity to the aspiring edupreneurs. The schools are run over by the Arora family from the past 24 years. They provide you a wide experience in the field of education franchisee, perhaps they are one of the first companies to offer preschool franchisees in our country. They have their own curriculum and syllabi which has been formulated by years of research and experience. They have incorporated the best practices from over the world and incorporated them into the Indian system of education to devise their own education system. Being the capital’s leading chain in preschool franchising, they offer you assurance that you would be joining a system that would support you at every step you take.
So, anyone who aspires to open a school of his own should definitely go for the franchise option. SHEMROCK & SHEMFORD Group of Schools offers the best franchise option in the education sector. You would surely benefit from this investment of yours. Go, take that decision and get your school franchise.
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