Services

Pre-Franchise Consultation

Prior to the franchise development work beginning, consultation is scheduled and materials are provided to the client that will educate, inform and discuss various aspects of the business to be franchised including an overview of various of requirements, laws, regulations, guidelines and necessary items relevant to the franchise system are explained.

Franchise Development Services

Whether you have an existing business or wanting to establish a startup Profran Consultants will walk your through the procedures, guidelines, and regulations associated with franchising. We break down the process in the following manner:

Corporate Structure

FTC Compliance

• Trade Mark & Tradename
• Franchise Disclosure Document
• Financial Audit

Franchise System

• Logo
• Franchise System
• Web Site Development
• Development of Manuals
• Training Program
• Support System
• Franchisee Profile
• Franchsie Marketing Campaign
• Workshops, Annual Conventions & Webinars

Regulatory State Registrations & Filings

Consultation Services

Our representatives will provide you with information that allows you to make information decisions whether it’s funding your business, developing a franchise or qualifying to purchase a franchise.

Buying A Franchise

A Profran Consultants representative is prepared to provide you with information concerning how to research a franchise, what a franchisor will expect from you and how to qualify for that franchise.

Register For A Local Seminar, Workshop Or A Webinar

Our programs are designed to provide you with information, education, and current data on franchising. Contact a local Profran Consultants representative to sign up for an upcoming event.

The Success of Franchising

Never before in the history of marketing has a method been more successful for business owners to expand than in franchising. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, franchising has a success rate that exceeds non franchise businesses.

Franchising is expected to reach $2 trillion by 2010, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

A survey was conducted with the help of the International Franchise Association to its franchisor membership and one of the questions that was asked to existing franchisees was, Would you purchase your franchise if you had it to do over again? The answer was positive from 93 percent of the owners. This confirms the success of franchising in the lives of franchise owners.

What is franchising?

To define franchising in one word would be marketing.

Franchising is a very sophisticated method of marketing a product or service that just happened to be federally regulated in the United States and many foreign countries. Although franchising as a method of marketing can be dated back thousands of years ago, modern day franchising had its origin around 1850 when Singer Manufacturing Company began offering distribution agreements to individuals to represent their product. Franchising has come a long way since then.

Around the 1900′s, the oil and gas industries along with the automotive and bottling industries, used trademark franchising exclusively. By the mid 1930′s numerous businesses used business format franchising as their method of expansion.  But by the 1950′s with businesses like McDonalds, franchising came into it’s own.  It was not until October 21, 1979 that the federal government enacted FTC Rule 436 which requires franchisors to comply with various regulations and guidelines in the offering of a franchise. This rule is still required to this day. For a copy of the Rule go to http://www.nfsdev.com/FTCrRule436.pdf

What is a Franchise?

A franchise in a word is an agreement. It is the contractual relationship that binds the parties together. The true value of any franchise will depend on the agreement itself. It is very important that the agreement be marketable too!

Some of the items that require careful consideration are:

• The initial franchise fee
• The trademarks and use of
• The continuing fees (royalties)
• The terms and conditions of the agreement
• The territory
• The training provided
• The support of the franchisor
• Who is Considered a Franchisor?

The federal government says that any business that is being offered to the general public that requires the potential buyer to sign a written contract and that contract contains their three (3) elements:

The Marks, tradename, service marks, or trademark
Significant controls or assistance
Remuneration of $500 or more within a time period of 6 months

What the FTC Rule Requires

FTC Rule 436/437 requires that the franchisor comply with several basic things. All have to do with the actual offering of the franchise to a potential buyers and the manner in which it is offered. They are:

Provide the potential buyer with full disclosure in a required format which identifies various items of disclosure (when using the Franchise Disclosure Document, 23 items with numerous sub items are required).

Provide the full disclosure document 10 business days before you the buyer is required to pay any money or sign any agreement with the franchisor.

The franchisor is prohibited from giving earning claims or projections of earnings unless certain requirements are met by the franchisor.

Regulation States

In addition to the FTC Rule, there are 14 States that require separate registration to allow a franchisor to market the franchise within their jurisdiction. Those states are:

What do you need in developing a franchise?

The development of a franchising is a continuious process so long as you are offering franchises. Some of the items that you are going to need are as follows:

How long does it take to develop a franchise?

National Franchise Services is able to get a franchisor client up and marketing within 45 to 60 days once development has begun. However, full development is an on-going process and requires at least 12 months to create the materials and tools that a franchisor needs.

What are the costs associated with franchising?

Some franchisors can begin the process with a budget of under $40,000. However, the costs are continuous just like development. If a franchisor elects to begin marketing while still in development, money will begin flowing into the franchisors bank account from the sale of franchises. This eases the financial burden of the franchisor. Recently a franchisor began franchising who had a limited budget but was committed to the venture and within 8 weeks of development had 12 franchises sold which brought into the company $300,000 in fees.

Does my business need to be in operation for a period of time before I franchise?

There are no requirements or restrictions concerning the business or length of time in existence. However, a track record that allows you to understand your business is important if you are going to teach others how to operate and run the business.

BECOME A FRANCHISE CONSULTANTS
To learn how you could become affiliated with Profran Consultants as a franchisee representative, go to the contact us page and send us an e-mail.