professional business planners?

celron

<p><p>is their such a thing? </p></p>
<p><p>&nbsp;</p></p>
<p><p>I need to put a proposal to a large multi national franchisor. this company is very picky with very strict criteria as to who it awards franchise rights to. I'm hoping to arrange a meeting with the head of their european operation in the uk in a few months time. I need to put together my proposal in the most professional and convincing way possible and i can't afford to look unprepared or amateurish. in my part of the country a number of very wealthy and well organised people have already tried what I'm trying. the common denominator in their failure so far that I can see is that they all overlooked the importance of putting their proposals together in a professional manner. most resorted to bombarding them with emails and phone calls saying i'm worth x amount and it's a great idea. there is a very large market for the company in my location but the biggest problem is convincing them of this and that i'm the right person to do it. the risk would be all financially on my side which I am equipped to deal with and i hope that doesn't sound too arrogant. i do know that all previous to me have made this same argument but have failed also. </p></p>

Robert Cooper

Celron,

Most good business consultants should be able to help you with this (I stress 'good'). Naturally, there will be a cost involved but that will depend upon the amount of work they have to do a) with you to understand the proposition and b) to compile a professional proposal.

They should also be capable of identifying any potential flaws, issues &/or risks in your proposal and nailing a) a killer plan and b) a killer pitch for your target audience.

Get it right and you'll get the gig.

Where are you based 'in the country'?

Robert Cooper

Celron,

Most good business consultants should be able to help you with this (I stress 'good'). Naturally, there will be a cost involved but that will depend upon the amount of work they have to do a) with you to understand the proposition and b) to compile a professional proposal.

They should also be capable of identifying any potential flaws, issues &/or risks in your proposal and nailing a) a killer plan and b) a killer pitch for your target audience.

Get it right and you'll get the gig.

Where are you based 'in the country'?

celron

Thanks very much for your helpful reply. I’m based in Kerry and sorry for not being more specific but I’d rather stay anonymous asking these questions.

Robert Cooper

No worries.

Just ask if you need anything more specific.

antoinolachtnai

I would be careful here if I were you. At the end of the day, you are selling yourself, not the business plan. They need to like you and trust you and believe you are the person for them. It's very easy to veer off into telling them how a franchise should be run, when they are supposed to be bringing the expertise.

You do of course need to know all the details at your fingertips. I presume you know who all the other players in the sector are and what their positioning is, and that you have read and understood their filed accounts, for instance.

They'll also want to be comfortable that you have the contacts and can raise the cash.

celron

antoinolachtnai wrote: »

I would be careful here if I were you. At the end of the day, you are selling yourself, not the business plan. They need to like you and trust you and believe you are the person for them.

Thanks, this is where I would have made a mistake, I would have been pushing my plan more than myself. This is why I was looking for advice rather than charging in with the “I have bags of money and a great idea attitude”. Others have already tried and failed with this approach.

antoinolachtnai,
I have not looked at the filed accounts of the competing franchisors, this is an obvious thing that didn't occour to me. I have only condsiered the franchise i'm dealing with (trying to deal with). You seem quite knowledgeable about dealings with large franchisors, do you mind me asking what your background is?


In short,
I have the prime site and the agreement of local planners, but not the franchise. I might add that my background is in the same sector as the franchise i'm trying to get.

antoinolachtnai

Well, you might look at other franchisors, but I was actually thinking of other players in whatever the industry is in your local area. The guys you will meet already know chapter and verse about their competitors and will bore you for hours about it if you make a connection with them. It's what's going on in your particular region that they will want to know about. If they are any use, I think they will want to know about your connections and knowledge in the industry.

If you have a background in the industry, then that makes all the difference in the world.

I've read a few franchise agreements in my time and I've looked at a few franchise businesses (mainly master franchises) but I couldn't say I really know a lot about it. It is a deeply specialized business.

That said, all my suggestions come with a money-back guarantee.

Make sure to have something on paper when you go to the meeting about the property and ideally the planning when you go to the meeting, or certainly ready for a second meeting.

Lplated

Best of luck with this.

First, a question - how do you know how the other people in your area dealt with or got on with the company - do you have independent knowledge that they approached the company with the 'i've loads of money give me the franchise' attitude, or is that merely your perception of the way they might have approached them?

Secondly, I'm not sure why exactly you need professional planners at this stage - this is going to be a first meeting right? Unless you're sure the agenda is going to be 'do we let him buy a franchise from us', i would have thought it was more likely to be 'we'll have a look see to ensure he's not a nut and may have the potential to pay us big bucks and run our franchise' type of meeting.

Third - Be careful of the 'job interview'/'must impress at all costs' type of mentality - a franchise is a two way thing -- they have a good business (you think) that they'll let you use for a fee, but equally you are a good business person that would represent their business well and make them money - you should be thinking in terms of partnership, not how much you must impress these guys as if it were your first job interview.

celron wrote: »

I have the prime site and the agreement of local planners, but not the franchise. I might add that my background is in the same sector as the franchise i'm trying to get.

This worries me for some reason. Do you mean you have planning permission for what you intend to do? Anything less than the actual grant of planning is no good to you. I assume you have met the planners - them looking at or listening to your plan and nodding their heads encouragingly DOES NOT constitute agreement in the legal sense of entitlement to planning.

celron

Lplated wrote: »

First, a question - how do you know how the other people in your area dealt with or got on with the company - do you have independent knowledge that they approached the company with the 'i've loads of money give me the franchise' attitude, or is that merely your perception of the way they might have approached them?

I know a few of them quite well so I asked them how they faired. As for the others, they are passing acquaintances and it is my perception of their approach

Lplated wrote: »

Secondly, I'm not sure why exactly you need professional planners at this stage - this is going to be a first meeting right? Unless you're sure the agenda is going to be 'do we let him buy a franchise from us', i would have thought it was more likely to be 'we'll have a look see to ensure he's not a nut and may have the potential to pay us big bucks and run our franchise' type of meeting.

It's my first time trying to acquire a franchise. As I said they seem to be very picky as to whom they choose. The closest one person has got so far is a few calls from them with figures and potential start up costs and a scheduled meeting in Dublin until they rang him up and said they weren't interested.

Lplated wrote: »

This worries me for some reason. Do you mean you have planning permission for what you intend to do? Anything less than the actual grant of planning is no good to you. I assume you have met the planners - them looking at or listening to your plan and nodding their heads encouragingly DOES NOT constitute agreement in the legal sense of entitlement to planning.

No, it is not actual planning and I’m not legally entitled to planning. I have had pre planning consultations where they've indicated that an application would be successful, local councilors expressing support, it doesn't go against town development plan, would create 20-30 jobs etc. I have a strong indication that I would be successful in my application but no actual planning. I have not applied yet and there is always the possibilty of an unforseen objection.


My biggest issue is acquiring the franchise and how best to go about it. They are a very strong brand and can afford to be picky it seems, even now in the midst of a recession.

Thanks, it's very helpful that people here are pointing out potential pitfalls and challenging my assumptions.

Lplated

Ok. In reverse order - be careful money wise until you have planning in your paw, an indication of success is not something you should take to a bank nor can take to a court, but you seem to get that.

I think you might be over stressing this a bit - a number of wealthy people have been turned down, this could be because they were unsuitable, or maybe because the franchise considers your area unsuitable at the present or maybe can't handle the extra work or something like that.

You have indicated that you are in the same business as the franchise already (i'm guessing this is either a food franchise or a convenience store franchise, no?) - so the strengths you have to offer the franchise include - a) some level of experience in the area, b) some level of forethought as to the practicalities (i.e. the planning), c) some level of investment iavailaible for the franchise.

Unless you have been asked to submit something in writing, I wouldn't.

I would have key points on a bit of paper, (a to c fleshed out plus anything else significant you can think of). Then i would relax! Go to the meeting with the idea that both of you must impress each other. Forget the others and how they may have got on (you don't really know other than what they have said).

If at that stage you're asked for something in writing, I may consider professional help, but I would still be more inclined to write any plan myself and simply get someone else to look at it.

There is one 'theory' about franchising you might consider - there used to be a line of thinking that the harder it was to get a franchise the more valuable it was to you (and the higher the fees associated with it). Kind of a psychological thing based on 'availability', bit like the virgin in the harem. I wouldn't have though any reputable franchisor would be using those kind of tactics any more, but be wary of focusing too much on 'winning' their approval - as i've said already, its a two way thing, a partnership of equals and a long term investment.