How do you boil down more than 4000 franchise brands in 80-or-so various industries to the few that are most appropriate for your own purposeful consideration, especially when so many bad options advertise themselves as being great?

There are a lot of wrong ways to do this that might be entertaining or time consuming for you, but which are ineffective and inefficient. Many people begin their franchise research randomly by combining personal experience and interest with dozens of assumptions, they see a new location opening, they talk to a friend or see an ad that grabbed their attention, then they add random inputs into Google queries, and months or years later they feel painfully frustrated and disappointed after having wasted a lot of time and energy to learn only what they don’t want in a business or what they cannot have because it’s unavailable for purchase in their area, or it’s unaffordable, or it requires their involvement to a degree they won’t exercise, or it demands skills they don’t possess, etc. After hundreds of hours, they are back to Square One!

Instead, I take an intelligent approach called The Very Best Deliberate Path, which starts by taking your measurements on more than two dozen different ownership criteria, from the obvious to the important. We discuss your purpose – your “Why?” – and I’ll learn to understand your likes and dislikes, your desire and capacity for scalability, your skill sets and weaknesses, your tolerance levels for investments and returns, your expectations and timelines, your lifestyle goals, your financial and intellectual ranges and desires, your capacities for sales or management, and more. Only after that do you and I begin considering the brands to approach.

For any franchise, territory availability can be a moving or a disappearing target.

Generally speaking, franchisors won’t advertise that they are sold out in any particular market; doing so is a waste of their resources. Some franchisors sell out rapidly in certain cities, to the point where if you’re not an early adopter, or in the right place at the right time, then you might never have a chance of owning that franchise in your geographic area, regardless of your net worth or how awesome you believe the brand to be.

On your own, there are endless secrets about territory opportunities and dangers that you won’t uncover until you’ve invested weeks or months in research. Instead, franchisors are quick to respond to me regarding territory availability and special circumstances for the area — information that alone could save you hundreds of research hours.

All franchisors are required to state reasonable investment ranges in their disclosure documents (the FDD). However, different franchisees in different markets can have different experiences. With access to this information in advance, I’m able to aid you in a way you won’t enjoy without my involvement — far fewer research frustrations and less wasted time as you evaluate a specific franchise.

Making claims of earnings, incomes, or expenses is NOT something I do. Meanwhile, if I understand the franchisee culture of a brand, and I’m aware of measures of franchisee satisfaction at various points during their business growth, that can save you time and frustration in your search, avoiding rabbit holes you would otherwise regret.

Among the greatest values of a franchise success model is that a new franchisee can enjoy a fast track to desired outcomes versus trying to do it all on their own — the framework, the guard rails, the support team, and the economies of scale that help you get where you want to go faster and with fewer financial pains.

Are you aware that sometimes your financing mechanism actually determines the legal entity you will establish to start and build your franchise?

There are lenders, and then there are franchise-familiar funding companies — there’s a world of difference between the two. There are multiple ways to finance a franchise business, and I’ll explore this with you and point you to the experienced people who can get into the details, including your own financial advisor(s).

I’ve found that satisfaction is merely a result of expectations. The vast majority of my candidates seek options that fall into what’s considered the top 7% of all available franchise brands — it’s wise to discriminate when choosing which brands and operating models to research.

“Success” or “failure” is always the responsibility of the franchisee, not the franchisor. There are a great number of fantastic franchise brands and success models that regularly deliver on their promises of support, direction, and development that a solid franchisor can facilitate — and matching you to one of them is exactly what I do.