The Flight Path To Franchise Success

We're in the middle of the long summer school break here in the UK, and whilst the skies above us are busy with so many people jetting off on vacation, the next generation of would-be franchisors will be considering how best to get their franchise opportunities off the ground and flying high.

A pilot franchise can be a great way for a new franchise brand to test their franchise model, usually offering the pilot franchisee the opportunity to own and operate their first franchise at a reduced cost, or even at no cost at all. Often, but not always, the pilot franchisee will already be familiar with the business or have a relationship with the franchisor - they may be a current employee, a customer of the business or be connected to the brand in some other way.

Launching with a pilot operation has a number of advantages for the franchisor. Firstly and most importantly, it gives the franchisor the opportunity to test the waters, to check that the business will translate well into the franchise sphere and will actually work as a franchise model. Even though a business may have a fantastic product or service, that does not necessarily mean that it can be developed into a viable franchise! A pilot operation will prove (or disprove) that the business can be successfully and profitably operated by someone else in a different geographical area, and that the original core business is not just a success because of the skills, talents and personality of the founder or some specific characteristics of its place of origin.

The success of any franchise brand is reliant upon the success and happiness of its franchisees, running their franchise businesses with the benefit of the know-how, training, systems and procedures and the support of the franchisor. A first pilot franchise is usually very much a work-in-progress, with the pilot franchisee understanding that they are taking on a business which is still in the beta-testing stage. The franchisor will be able to use the pilot franchise experience to fully assess what is needed to launch, train and provide ongoing support to a franchisee, informing future decisions on elements ranging from the format and contents of operation manuals, how initial franchise training should look and be delivered, to financials and what is included in the franchise. In doing this, the hope is that by the time a first full franchisee comes on board, the franchisor can feel fully confident in the franchise offering, and the vast majority of any "teething issues" have been successfully ironed out. They should also feel confident that they’ve got their sums right and that they've accurately costed up their franchise package