Matchmaking for the Millennium Rick Eggleton Fifty years ago, a franchisor’s first franchisee was likely to be “Cousin Max.”  Now, with thousands of franchisors and hundreds of thousands of prospective franchisees, finding a franchise partner is a bit more complicated.  In today’s complex market, a professional franchise consultant can make the difference between a successful match and a disastrous mistake. All franchisors are faced with the same challenge: In each market they enter, they must reach critical mass that will make them and their franchisees successful.  After all, the core strategy of franchising is to capture market share and attain market dominance. Franchisors are faced with the reality that their company has limited resources of time, energy, personnel and money.  Coupling these limitations with the growing number of new franchisors entering the market every year, and about the same number of new franchise candidates wanting to buy, franchisors must find new ways to attract and reach those potential buyers. Using franchise consultants – professionals, who spend their time, money and resources to attract, screen, qualify and educate prospects – provides a good alternative to traditional methods of advertising. Franchisees Tell the Story Franchisees working with franchise consultants often report they never knew the possibilities that existed for them.  Most have looked at one franchise or another and then become overwhelmed by the choices and concerned about their lack of knowledge.  The need information, help in understanding their own requirements, a process that makes sense for them, and choices.  From the prospect’s viewpoint, working with a franchise consultant often makes the difference between doing something, and doing nothing.  They also look to consultants to bring them fresh perspectives and resources through their network of professionals, including franchise attorneys, accountants, and lenders. Gene Diegleman now a One Hour Martinizing franchisee worked in the food industry for 10 years and felt stifled in his career.  He was seeking an improved quality of life for his family.  Diegleman says, “Since I had never owned a business before, I realized early on that franchising was the way to go for me.  I wanted the support that is available from a franchisor and wanted to make sure that I did everything the right way.” By meeting with a consultant who specializes in matching franchisees with the right franchise company, Diegleman discovered that he was looking for a business that would be enduring, not trendy, and he wanted an opportunity he could grow to multiple locations over time.  He also wanted to invest in a franchise that his children could ultimately run, if they desired to do so.  He knew he wanted to invest in a franchise but was initially overwhelmed by the choices and kept running into dead ends.  He says that by using a consultant who looked at his talents and financial situation, he got the help he needed in assessing opportunities that would be best suited for him.  “Without guidance I might have gone another route, investing in a smaller business that would have made just a meager living for me,” Diegleman reports. One Hour Martinizing began in 1949, and is one of the oldest companies in franchising.  Jerald Laesser, vice president of franchising, reports his use of matchmaking success, with 55 percent of the company’s newly approved franchisees coming from a franchise consultant.  Laesser says, “Working with a franchise consultant to find prospects is like working with a headhunter; if they find you the right person, they are worth their weight in gold.”  He knows that in five years, he will have added more than a million dollars to Martinizing’s royalty stream if he finds only five new franchisees each year from this source. Success Strategy Benefits Both Sides The strategy of using franchise consultants as professional matchmakers seems to be working for new and old companies alike.  For example, Mike Fagan, executive vice president of The Maids International, founded in 1980, reports that 38 percent of his new franchisees in 1996 came from using a group of franchise consultants and that those franchisees were “the most qualified and often the most successful start-up franchisees in the system.” In Simi Valley, California, Carl Frova, downsized from corporate America, started his journey by attending an out-placement workshop on how to choose a franchise as a means of exploring career alternatives.  He was so impressed by the knowledge he gained in a short time that at the end of the presentation he made an appointment to meet with the consultant who conducted the workshop.  At that meeting the consultant spent time getting to know Frova, his accomplishments and skills, and to understand his dreams and goals.  They worked on developing and outlining Frova’s ideal business model and then talked about a number of alternatives for him to investigate.  Frova admits that without the services of his consultant, he probably would not have ever thought to consider The Maids International. Frova and his wife Barbara now own four territories.  The Frova’s won TMI’s “Rookie of the Year Award” in 1994 for being top sales performers and were awarded its “Big Brother/Big Sister” award in 1996 for their outstanding contributions to the success of other franchisees in the system. Beyond Matchmaking Today’s franchise consultants and matchmakers are an integral part of their local community, educating and creating awareness for the franchise community.  They are quoted in local business journals, provide community service by speaking at out-placement and career counseling centers, government agencies such as the U.S. Small Business Administrations, SCORE, Small Business Development Centers, and local business groups.  By emphasizing education, research and financing opportunities, they have become a major source of exceptional franchisee candidates who make informed decisions. Franchise consultants bring many advantages to franchisors: They advertise and market locally. They offer local workshops at career counseling centers, small business symposiums, universities, Small Business Development Centers, and for the military. They network referral leads with local professionals such as CPAs, leasing companies, and SBA lenders. They have and established clientele who are waiting to be called with the right opportunity for them. They have strong word of mouth referrals from past clients. They leave control with the franchisor, since consultants don’t sell, but instead screen, inform, and educate prospects. They allow the franchisors to work on focusing their strategy of market penetration within that consultants market; often consultants can help a franchisor get started in new markets and often help sell out that market. The bring franchisors incremental business by finding candidates who are confused, lack the knowledge of franchising, and have no understanding of the process they need to employ to find the right business It is important to franchisors and franchisees alike to find the right group to work with to find prospects.  Consultants must be professional, have a high degree of integrity, and be motivated to help prospects and franchisors, and have experience in franchising.