Why do employees make good franchisees?

Sometimes the best candidate for becoming a new franchisee, could already be working for you. In this article we explain how often the best franchisees are employees.

When attempting to recruit franchisees, franchises use various avenues in order to try and fulfil their recruitment drive. Attending business shows or other corporate events to advertising on websites (Like Franchise Supermarket), these all take time and resources. Even once the enquiries come in, to potentially find the right candidate can then be incredibly pressuring and hard work. However, what if there was another pool of candidates just waiting to be picked. Employees.

Normally when someone is purchasing a franchise they are doing it for similar reasons, such as “wanting to be their own boss” or “have more control of their life”. These are common motivations that are not exclusive to just cash ready. Even current employees can have this self-reflective image of themselves one day running a business that they currently operate in.

Current employees within a franchise who aspire to be a franchisee are already one if not two steps ahead of the competition. They already know how the business operates and what it would take to run. Because they know how it works, it is much more familiar to envisage themselves running it as oppose to something completely out of the blue. Having that inside knowledge on what it is like currently working within the franchise, they already have an opportunity to get an inside perspective as to what benefits it could bring to their own life.

From a franchisors point of view, it is the best of both worlds. Unlike taking on someone completely new, the employee turn franchisee would not need as extensive training as the person who has no knowledge whatsoever. They already know the majority of the business fundamentals and operations. They will still require training and be taught how to operate a business from an owner’s perspective, however the day to day will be their bread and butter. Due to this, it makes more sense for an employee to become a franchisee because they already know what to expect from the brand they are representing.

Of course, it goes without saying that any franchisee is likely to be more determined to make things successful as they are the ones who are directly benefiting from it. This isn’t to say that employees are not as ambitious, however when you know you are lining your own pocket it does make those extra hours a little easier. Also, because the employee who has now invested their savings and own money into the business, they are going to want to maximise their efforts into the brand that they clearly trust. This helps improve the relationship between franchisor and franchisee and only boost that network morale.

It isn’t to say that the only prospective franchisees you should be looking at are in house, as not everyone who is employed at a business wants to own their own business. Everyone has their own goals and targets and current staff members may not be comfortable into taking the leap to becoming self-employed franchisees. However, with the right guidance and candidate, employees are a sure-bet in making fantastic franchisees if the opportunity is to arise.