After going over the information we gathered on the franchise, my client was still fond of the concept, although they understood that they were not being set up for success by using that system. We went through a questionnaire that helped me to understand what they were truly looking to achieve with this franchise. The results provided me a clear picture of what they could qualify for and what type of lifestyle they needed the business to create. I also understood the family involvement and the magnitude of what their success or failure meant to their life. I understood them.
We then input the information into the Franchise Brokers Association’s Franchise Search Tool and came up with a list of franchises that matched their criteria. We went through the franchises one by one and discussed the pros and cons of each franchise as well as the longevity, uniqueness and profitability of each concept. At the end of the day, we used the comparison grids provided by the Franchise Brokers Association to compare the different concepts that we decided were interesting to the client. We chose 4 franchises to investigate further.
We had completed the first several steps in the consulting process and were ready to talk to the Franchisors. We determined that our next meeting would be facilitated via conference call and departed for the day.