We understand that you are excited about the possibility of becoming a franchisee and we want to help you get a clear picture of what is involved. These are very commonly asked questions to give you a head start.
Q. How long is the training?
Franchisees and/or their Business Managers receive a week-long intensive training session at the head office, with in-person hand-hold provided throughout your opening and ongoing training into the future.
Q. I have lots of experience - can I shorten the training period?
No. You need to cover all aspects of the system during your training and while former experience may be useful it will not be as thorough in the areas that will make your clinic successful.
Q. Does the National Office check the performance of the clinics?
Absolutely. Although you are the franchisee we view the clinic as a joint asset. We have a clear expectation of revenue stream from each clinic, which is paid as franchise fees and we monitor your performance weekly. We also employ mystery shoppers to help us ensure that clinics are delivering services as per the system.
Q. Why is the franchise term limited to 5 + 5 years?
A lot can happen over a ten year period. You will be older and probably at a different stage in your life, which may affect how you manage your franchise business. For example, you children may be older and you may want to travel, you may have different family responsibilities, you may be bored with the business or have other interests you want to pursue. We however will still be wanting to maximise our franchised assets and as such will be wanting to ensure that we only have motivated and high performing franchisees in place. If at the end of ten years you are still performing to the expected standards we would of course have no problem in renewing your term.
Q. Will I be allowed to offer other goods or services in my franchise?
No. The secret to a successful franchise is uniformity in terms of what products or services are offered, how they are provided and the standards that are required. We have carefully chosen our goods and services to provide a successful business model.
Q. How will I know how the marketing fees are spent?
We will provide all franchisees with an annual statement detailing the use of the marketing levies. This is one of many requirement of the FCA Code of Conduct which we willingly subscribe to.
Q. How is the shop fit out handled?
We provide a turnkey fit out arrangement which means that while the shop fit is being carried out you are able to concentrate on your training.
Q. When can I see the Operations Manual?
Our Operations Manual is an important part of our intellectual property and the system that you are buying into. We have a duty to protect not only the brand but all franchisees within the system and for this reason only fully committed franchisees are permitted access to the Operations Manual. This information will be made available 14 days after the franchise agreement is signed.
Q. Will I be able to visit the clinic during construction?
There are a number of health and safety issues to be considered here so normally we limit your visits during the 3-4 week fit-out period. Inspections of the site would need to be prearranged with the Project Manager. Generally, one or two visits to the site are allowed throughout the period. If additional site visits are requested, it tends to disrupt the work getting completed on time.
Q. Will I be permitted to sell my clinic at a later date?
Absolutely. In fact, we would want you to be thinking about growing your business as fast as possible so that you can sell and make profit later if you wish.
Q. I would like my husband/wife/partner to be involved in the business - will this be possible?
We would have no objection to this providing they have the skills required. We are often approached by investors looking to buy their wife/husband/partner a job but unless they have the skills required in the business and pass our normal interview and selection processes we would not proceed.
Q. What else can I do to prepare me for becoming a franchisee?
We require all applicants to complete the FREE Griffiths University Pre-Entry Modules on franchising before they apply for a franchise. This will ensure you have a better understanding of what it means to buy a franchise and will help you understand the processes involved. The modules can be found here: http://www.franchise.org.au/pre-entry-franchise-education.html
Q. What other advice should I get?
Legal. Once the franchise documents have been issued, we find that franchisees typically go through two stages of questions. Firstly their own and secondly those raised by their lawyers. This is time consuming and not always productive. We therefore ask that your questions be all raised via your legal representative. That way we can efficiently deal with them. We also recommend you to use an experienced franchise lawyer, as those unfamiliar with franchising will ask more questions - this will be more costly to you. Accountancy - You should definitely seek independent advice from your accountant and in addition, our franchisee approval process will require a meeting with one of our accountants.
