We specialise in providing critical support and expert advice to successful business owners committed to growing their brand footprint through ethical franchising.
Killeen Sisk provide a comprehensive franchise consultancy service covering all aspects of reviewing, building and managing a best practice franchise programme.
We provide a “full closed loop franchise service” leading you through the process of Investigating, Developing, Implementing and Managing your franchise programme. We are with you all the way. Our services cover all elements outlined below.
When working with new franchisors, we work in a very structured and focused way to assist business owners develop a best practice franchise model in a phased approach
Killeen Sisk provides continuous and on-going practical “hands on support” across all elements of your franchise programme, transferring our expertise to your team members in the shortest time possible to include the following:
Franchise Team ongoing support
Franchisor ongoing engagement support
Annual review of the Franchise Program
Franchising has become an established way for new and existing entrepreneurs to run their own business through replicating the successes of established and successful business owners, who have already proven the financial viability of a particular business model. The individual/company purchasing the franchise, accesses the expertise, intellectual property and know-how of the original business owner who has successfully established the business model and the brand identity. The originator of the business model normally owns the trademark that the business operates under. They sell the rights to their franchisee partners to trade under that trademark, that identifies all aspects of the business model to the franchisee and put in place a programme of continuing and ongoing support for their network of franchisees.
A franchise is a business arrangement where the owner of a product or service under a recognised tradename agrees for a fee or a combination of fees to allow another person or business to trade under that trademark, using the same products, service and proven business methodologies and trademark and passes the benefit of its know-how and expertise to that person/Company
The most popular use of the word franchise has arisen from the development of what is called a business format franchise. This is the format of franchising that most of the international franchise accreditation bodies are interested in. The business Format Franchise is the grant of a licence by one person (the Franchisor or originator of the business model) to another (the Franchisee or the purchaser of the franchise), which entitles the franchisee to trade under the trademark/tradename of the franchisor and make use of an entire package, comprising all of the elements necessary to establish a previously untrained person in the business and to run it with a programme of continual assistance on a predetermined basis.
Dr Martin Mendelsohn
The EUROPEAN CODE OF ETHICS FOR FRANCHISING is a practical ensemble of essential provisions for the governance of the relations between a franchisor and each of its franchisees, operating together in the framework of the franchise network. The overarching principles of ethics that underline this set of provisions are good faith & fair dealings, which translate as franchisor-franchisee relations based on fairness, transparency and loyalty each of which contribute to founding confidence in the relationship.The principles of the CODE are applicable at all stages of the franchise relationship; pre contractual, contractual and post-contractual stages.The EUROPEAN CODE OF ETHICS FOR FRANCHISING constitutes the franchising industry’s Self-Regulatory Code and is there for all stakeholders in the franchise industry in Europe to look to for guidance on franchising generally.The CODE’s clear and unambiguous principles are not in contradiction with national laws and fundamental rights in the EU with the continuing objective of setting up a more efficient framework for franchising.In particular, the CODE is the foundation stone of the action of the EUROPEAN FRANCHISE FEDERATION’s National Franchise Association Members. Their respective membership rules, accreditation as well as disciplinary schemes must comply with the standards set in the CODE. The CODE, in its entirety, is binding for all EFF Members as well as their respective memberships. The CODE is endorsed by all EFF Member Franchise Associations each of which is committed to its promotion, interpretation and implementation in their own country. Each Association is responsible for ensuring that the Code is publicly available, in particular to all those entering the franchise industryFor access to the full code clear here <codeofethicslink>
The person who has developed the original Business Concept and develops the franchise model.
The investor who purchases the right to trade using the Franchisors concept, intellectual Property & know how & Support.
The documented system and processes which outline how the franchise operates
The contract that is signed by the Franchisor and Franchisee which dictates the terms and conditions of the franchise and frames the relationship
The contract that is signed by the Franchisor and Franchisee which dictates the terms and conditions of the franchise and frames the relationship.
The franchisor grants the franchisee, (also called area developer) a territory within which the franchisee agrees to open and operate an agreed number of franchised units according to an agreed development schedule. No Sub Franchising rights granted to the area developer (2 parties; Franchisor & Area Developer)
– Similar to above but the franchisee acquires the right to sub franchise the business model within a country (Master) or a territory within a country(Regional). They will be required to run their own units/locations but they also acquire the right to sell sub franchises within their territories (3 parties; Franchisor – Master or Regional Franchisee & Sub Franchisees).
A FIM or UFOC (Universal Franchise Offer Circular as referred to in the United States of America) provides a summary of all the information presented to the franchisee in advance of them committing to purchasing a franchise. Its purpose is to provide all the information relevant to the decision of a franchisee to purchase the franchise with a summary of all the information…informed decisions … protect Franchisor from claims of misrepresentation.
Legally enforceable agreements between parties that are used to ensure that certain information not in the public domain will remain confidential
The Business model need to be proven in its own rights with a successful financial track record of a minimum of 2 years
There needs to be scope for scale for the business model, as it can be expensive to prepare the business model properly for franchising. The business owner embarking on franchising has to satisfy him/herself that there will be a satisfactory return on the investment made on the franchise development borne by the business preparing to franchise.
From a financial perspective there needs to be sufficient gross margin in the business model that enables the Franchisee to make a worthwhile return on their investment when buying a franchise. Likewise, for the business owner franchising the business model, there needs to be sufficient financial return available to him/her to warrant the investment in developing the franchise model in the first place.
The business should be easy to replicate but difficult for competitors to copy.
The business model should be easy to train others up in. Simple business models and ease of training up new operators delivers a consistency in operational standards that are key to the success of any good franchise.
The business ideally should have its own USP (Unique Selling Point) versus its competitors, to facilitate differentiation from others in the sector.
The business model should be as systems driven as possible to facilitate the easy management of the business by the franchisee, the reduction in paperwork and administration and provide the franchisor with remote visibility on both the operational and the financial performance of their network of franchisee partners
Ideally proving the financial success of the standalone business is not enough for to satisfy the ethical standards associated with ethical business format franchising. Prior to rolling out a franchise, new to franchising franchisors should really run a Pilot programme with one or two “Pilot Franchisees” to prove the franchisability of the business model to be franchised. Traditionally this is referred to as the “Pilot Franchise Programme" and the programmes run for over one financial period.
Strong established Brand. While it may not always be the case, especially with newer businesses franchising, most franchisees are attracted to franchised businesses that already have an established brand identity with the customers in the sector they serve. This means that the franchisee can leverage that brand recognition to drive their turnover and don't have to go to the extensive cost of establishing their own brand.
The individual/Company franchising their business model should have their brand name and intellectual property protected under a registered trademark. They should have the trademark under registration or enjoy full rights to the trademark before they commence franchising. In essence when a business is involved in franchising, it sells the rights to the franchisees to trade under their Trademark and access their know how and expertise.
There should be a strong training programme developed by the franchisor to train their franchisees up in all aspects of running the business.
There should be a robust programme of continuing and on going support available through the franchisor to support the franchisees in establishing and managing their businesses to the standards required at start up and on an ongoing basis.