3 smart tips for growing your franchise

If you've ever thought of franchising your business, know that the procedure of becoming a franchisor is generally long and involves considerable capital. Still, many entrepreneurs dream of seeing their brand become a household name with a chain of franchisees spread from east to west and north to south. Franchising a business can help the business grow by leaps and bounds, but becoming a franchisor does not necessarily guaranty success, especially in the kind of economy we're living in today. In addition to making some really smart decisions, becoming a successful new franchisor involves wading through a lot of legal paperwork to comply with state and federal laws. Here are a few tips on how you can expand your franchise:

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Pass on your learning

Since the time you established your very first franchise unit, you must have run into several obstacles. From selecting the perfect location to hiring the right managers to run that particular unit, you might have used different strategies on a trial and error basis and emerged successful eventually. Since you are now aware of the kind of problems you might encounter when starting yet another unit, it is only apt that you pass your teachings on to your store managers and employees. When you teach those under you how to run a successful business, they can replicate your model and use it to create another duplicate establishment which is as successful as the previous ones.

Create a strong brand identity

Make your brand a household name before expanding your franchise. For example, if your business sells women's beauty products, your brand's name should be the first thing that consumers think of when they want to purchase women's beauty products. That's how strong the recollection value of your brand should be. If you want your franchise to become successful, you need to come up with a business model that will make your brand popular throughout your country. The more recognisable your brand personality is, the more prosperous your franchise will be. This way, when you establish new units, they'll instantly gain success as they'll be strongly backed by your brand name.

Strike a balance between local and national

Your franchise may be national with several establishments strewn all over the country, but there still needs to be a balance between your national name and local identity. Each individual establishment needs to develop a connect with its local people by staying in touch with its community, doing local marketing, and acting as though it is a traditional small business. Relying on the brand name might work for the establishment in its initial few days, but it needs to foster relationships with the local people to become a hit in the neighborhood it operates in. The easiest way to do this is by hosting and participating in a variety of community events.

Keep the above tips in mind to ensure that your business approach is working well in the market you're catering to. Spend wisely on advertising your franchise and you'll drive sales to the growing chain like never before.