Many small business owners dream of franchising their existing businesses. As a former franchisor, many of these individuals contact me through one of our websites. Most future franchisors do not really understand what franchising really is or how it really works, they just like the idea of taking their company nationwide and making lots of money.

First of course they need a business plan and perhaps need some help with this in order to secure the 1 million dollars that it takes to franchise. A former franchisor or franchise consultant can certainly assist you in your business plan, no problem there. Sometimes the SBA and SCORE counselors are a little problematic on Franchising, if they do not have "franchise" experience, then that can be a huge problem.

Worse off, I went to a few of these types of people before franchising my business, they told me it wouldn't work? Amazing, because we ended up franchising it into 23 states, before I sold it and retired before my 40th birthday. Getting an SBA Loan is not very hard, but it may not be advisable for you either, so there are many things to consider there.

What will a franchise consultant need to know before they start working with you or consider taking a consulting job to help you with your business plan? Well, here are the first questions that I had recently when asked to assist a future franchisor:

Have you read any of the following books?

The E-Myth

Since, most franchise consultants work on a case by case scenario, they need to know more about what you are doing, as they may not be the most qualified to assist you, but the franchise industry is small and they all know a ton of people in the industry, so even if they do not feel comfortable advising you, they do know where to point you.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is a guest writer for Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington

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