Is Your Business Right For Franchising?

Our CEO, Ralph Massetti, has an authored book entitled "Is Your Business Right For Franchising?"  which is now available for sale at all major booksellers and Amazon.com.

Below is the book's Introduction. Followed by a walk-through of Chapter 1 from for your preview. Additional preview and search options are available under the book's listing at Amazon.com 


INTRODUCTION

Good Day! If I were to meet you in person, I would predictably say, hello…I am Ralph Massetti! Then, odds are we would have a short discussion and laugh about how my surname sounds like the knife “Machete”, or that I look like Ralph Malph from Happy Days with the red hair and all. And that is okay; I am used to it and embrace my uniqueness. As we spoke further, I’d likely share that I am a Midwestern Irish/Italian, born and raised in the city of Chicago, and currently dividing my home life between residences in Phoenix, Denver and Tampa, FL. Barring, the personal experience, I wanted to paint a personal picture of myself for this introduction and forewarn you that I intended to write this book and cover this content from a specifically unique voice.

My goal is to speak plainly and frankly about the industry of franchising in the hopes that this learning exercise proves to be a rewarding and honest experience as you gather facts and figures about the prospect of franchising your business. Fact is, I too have read the majority of the books and likely surfed the same Websites that you have, and I am concerned about the “sameness” of the information presented, and the lack of perspective and genuine disclosure about becoming a Franchisor today.

Additionally, I have spoken directly, and noted from hundreds of my clients and prospects, common similarities in what is being told to would-be Franchisors by legitimate and so-called professional franchise industry development experts. This group includes Franchise Attorneys and formal Franchise Consultants and Developers (of which my business is defined).

Frankly, in my opinion, many and most of these experts are either knowingly or unknowingly misleading business people considering franchising. This misleading information varies in their deliberation and severity, but nevertheless are common.

Many service providers commit a common offense by over-stating the ultimate importance on only the portion of the development process that they perform, such as Legal Document Drafting. For example, there are countless franchise developers and lawyers that, like a broken record, tell prospects that the “most critical” part of the franchise development process is the Uniform Franchise Offering Circular (UFOC) and Franchise Agreement, and that they should spend the majority of their time (and coincidentally, their money) on drafting these documents.

Now, while I agree that these documents are vital and that their preparation needs to be facilitated by competent legal counsel, they are far from all that is “critical” to a Franchisor’s success, and only the beginning of what is required to develop a well-crafted franchise organization capable of achieving notable growth.I am not suggesting that all the professionals that service the Franchisor are intentionally misleading their prospects and clients. I am merely suggesting that franchising is like any other business. It requires the right blend of operational expertise, marketing and branding uniqueness, product innovation and differentiation, trademark evidence, legal and financial preparedness and proper funding. All too often, I am meeting new Franchisors that have spent upwards of $125,000 for two legal documents that are largely the same required legal “boilerplate” and then told by their legal and development professionals that they are ready to “go sell”. With that, the new Franchisor goes to the marketplace with a mediocre branding and identity, a largely unplanned operational system, a poorly prepared franchise manual and no real preparation of what it is really going to be like to be a Franchisor.

If you were to call my business, The Franchise Builders, and ask for information about franchising your business, you would, in almost every case, share a lengthy conversation with me. As there is no “official” franchise industry licensing, talking to me would be more a measure of faith of my competence, likely gained by your review of my company’s Website, or from a recommendation from one of our clients.That aside, I would ask you several specific questions about your current business and with that, we would start a hearty and blunt conversation about whether I (and you) felt your business had the merit, model and multiplicity factor needed to make it a successful franchise offering. Odds are, and this is where I differ from most “franchise consulting experts”, that your business would not be one that I would recommend you making the investment required to formally franchise. In any case, it is likely we would end on a positive note, with a future plan of action to prepare your business for franchising at a later date, your finding a renewed resolve in continuing with your current business structure and avoiding franchising, or our continuing our conversation by further exploring the factors and costs of immediately franchising your business.

Rest assured, although I may frequent a critical stand in this book, I love franchising. I am appreciative of the reward and fulfillment it has provided me and my family, and I am blessed to have made some lasting friendships among my clients.

Furthermore, I am a frequent witness to the financial reward and the magnitude and effect of franchising’s power of multiplicity that my clients have enjoyed. I am hopeful that the information you gain from this book will prove rewarding for you and your business, should you decide to venture into franchising or seek an alternate expansion method. I would like nothing more than to hear of your success personally and as an entrepreneur myself, I have the highest level of admiration for the effort and commitment required to build a world-class business organization worthy of selling to others.

So, with an MBA, a comprehensive amount of franchise marketing and development experience and an impressive list of satisfied franchise clients, I set out to provide you the same consultation experience, minus your participation of course, and provide you the opportunity to explore franchising for your business with certainty and finality.

Continue to the first topic >> - Are You Ready?