Franchise Due Diligence & Franchise Opportunity Search

Copyright Nicholas Bibby, all rights reserved

Is the new entrepreneur at a disadvantage when searching for the best franchise opportunity? YES, because franchisors have a giant edge in terms of experience and the new entrepreneur understands little, if anything, about franchise due diligence. Consider this scenario. An older man or woman, take your pick, desires to meet a younger potential mate. Not wanting to waste time searching the lounges and clubs, our seeker engages an established matchmaking service and lays out the criteria. The matching service pours through its files of prospects, and after a short period of time, finds a presentable candidate based on age, education, background, etc. The matching service completes its task when an introduction is made.

For the time being, let's forget about our characters' individual needs and motives, and just assume that they are both sincerely interested in finding and establishing a new relationship. Things begin with several phone conversations and emails during which both parties make personal disclosures, consisting of information freely offered and information obtained by each asking questions. The older person, having made other searches in the past, has a set agenda and, almost surgically, gathers up enough information to make a decision about the next step, namely meeting for dinner. The younger, less experienced person, although quickly becoming comfortable and accepting the invitation, is not operating with any particular plan; it's just dinner. In other words, while the behavior of the older person is calculated, the younger one acts and reacts more on emotion. And of course, therein lay the crucial balance of power and the predictability of things to come, at least in the short term.

There is no need to continue fleshing out all the details of events that can naturally follow. So long as there is a match between the experienced and the inexperienced parties, the relationship can continue well beyond dinner and dating. Now, none of this is to say that the older person is deceptive or bad. It is simply a matter of experience and the ability to make judgments based on facts. On the other hand, if in fact there was deceit, it could easily go undetected. Over the course of time, both parties will come to know the good, the bad and the undisclosed about each other, but that course of time will be long and attachments will deepen, especially in the honeymoon stages. In other words, one side, the emotionally driven side, may find out much too late, that they were wined, dined, charmed and coaxed into a committed relationship without gathering all the facts available about the older, more experienced partner.

OK Nick, bring it back home now, talk to me searching for the best franchise opportunity.

Copyright Nicholas A. Bibby, all rights reserved.