Dreaming of Franchising Image of Jordis Small Executive Director of Stellen Design.

Steps to prepare your business for franchising

Dreaming of franchising?

Fantastic idea! Franchising is a great way to grow when you have reached the peak of what you can do on your own. It allows your business to grow beyond your capabilities. It’s the model that helped McDonalds grow to over 40,000 locations across the world.Image of mcndonald locations around the world in blog Dreaming of Franchising by Stellen Design

Step 1 in building a successful franchise is to audit your brand!

Ask yourself…

  • is my logo recognizable, memorable, and scalable? What makes a good logo? Give this a read!
  • what is my brand story? Do I have a clear mission, vision, and purpose?
  • what are my brand values?
  • who is our audience?
  • is there anything I should change or update?

You will want to get all your branding dialed in now… why??

Because it’s way easier and more cost effective to adjust when you are small vs having to make changes when you have multiple locations.

The best example of this is both Subway and Baskin-Robins had branding updates recently but it’s going to take years for them to get all their franchises moved over. Thousands of signs, posters, in store POP, and even build outs that need to be changed! It’s expensive and takes time.

Another reason to have a rock solid brand before franchising is to accurately sell your vision to potential partners. When your brand is wishy-washy or having an identity crisis no one will want to follow…. but have a consistent story that people can understand and relate to and they will rally to be a part of it!

 

Step 2: Get your brand ready

Hire a professional branding agency to help with getting your brand in alignment with your vision for your company. This will pay off 10 fold! Be sure and go into this brand update thinking of both your audiences… you will now need to focus on both the customer and your new target audience and franchisee partners.

Brand layout of Juice It Up by Stellen Design

Make any and all updates to the brand now. If you don’t have a brand guide, you will need one! Learn more about brand guides in this article.

 

Step 3: Get your materials ready

You will need to gather your numbers and create a marketing deck as to “why” someone should invest in your business! This is where knowing your vision and brand positioning comes in. Having all the brand copy should make this document easy to put together.

 

Conclude

Of course there are steps beyond what we have included here. You will need to talk with your attorney and partnering with a franchise agency could help get your idea sold. But don’t short change this process. If franchising is something you see in your future, the sooner you get started on these steps and get your brand dailied in, the better!

Here is an article from Leagal Zoom on the legal steps to franchising your business.

And be sure and chat with a company like FranSmart on developing your franchise!

If you want help with any of this! Don’t hesitate to book a call with our creative director Jordis Small.

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Carolina Vangilder of Stellen Design Branding Agency in Los Angeles CA
Carolina Van Gilder
Project manager / Assistant
The coordinator, facilitator and scheduler for all Stellen Design projects. She communicates with clients about everything from contracts and payments to design edits and revisions. She helps keep the logistics on point so Stellen Design can live up to their reputation.
Réka Juhász (ray-ka u-has)
Contract Designer

Réka is a Hungarian-born, American-trained award-winning brand designer with over 12 years of graphic design experience. She loves to incorporate hand lettering, tactile elements, or letterpress into her work. She believes inspiration is all around us and that making brands look good is a worthy pursuit in life.

Jordis Smalls of Stellen Design Branding Agency in Los Angeles CA
Jordis Small
Creative Director
Jordis is a big believer in continued education. She makes it a point to attend at least four workshops or conferences a year to keep her skill improving. She is also a big advocate for “creative play” and loves to spend her spare time trying new things and learning new techniques.