When you first step into the realms of a Franchise Opportunity one of the first things to stand out will most likely be the extent of the “rule book”, or the document that sets out the basis under which you may operate within your contract. There will also be a extensive amount of detail around the penalty of not abiding by these rules, some of which will be severe.

It is also disturbing for a new franchisee to recognise that the good ideas that he puts forward on how to improve the operating of the business are nine times out of ten not adopted by the franchisor, and more than that are disallowed going forward. This is all very much key to Franchise tradition. A culture that causes a significant amount of pressure and annoyance for individuals having just recently purchased a Franchise For Sale and less so for those who are old hats at the franchise model.

Those with more knowledge of the ways in which a franchise model works can recognise the necessity for conformity across the board. This in general means that the same conditions apply to all franchises across the country but similarly it could apply overseas too.

The model must be easy to reproduce all over the territory in which it operates and therefore should be constructed to allow regional differences in the process. The model must also take into account that the franchisees running each franchise will have different abilities and so it must be clear and useful enough for all to deal with. This can sometimes mean that an individual with heightened skills in a particular area is restricted in his actions as the rest of the franchisees would just not be able to function at that level.

A lot of the conformity boils down to the ease in which the Low Cost Franchise operator can review and control the full team. If every franchisee for example was providing sales figures in a different configuration it would be very time consuming to assess the overall picture and so all franchisees must use the same reporting system. If one franchisee decided that he was going to put a deal together for a particular package of products in a selected month the sales of the franchisee in the ajoining patch may be affected. This could rocket to a complaint to the franchisor. A few of these sorts of situations needing attention and the franchisor is using all his time resolving disputes rather than continuing to grow his business.

So the rule book, although big, is there for a very good reason, the continued growth of the entire organisation. If you are considering a Franchise Opportunity do not necessarily be dissuaded by a large and detailed list of do’s and don’ts. Often it is a signal that the franchisor has a great vision for the company and has the determination and drive to get it there. This of course is precisely what a potential franchisee wants to hear as the brand and business growth will have a massive affect on the profits for each franchisee.