Franchising Library
Questions to Ask Franchisees During Validation
As you delve deeper into a franchise opportunity you’ll get an opportunity to validate what you’ve been told by speaking with as many current and previous franchise owners as you wish.
It’s a critical step not to be overlooked. You’ll find these contacts in the Franchise Disclosure Document which each brand will provide prior to beginning your validation calls.
Here are some questions to ask each person you speak with so you can assess patterns in their answers to draw your own conclusions.
How long have you been a Franchisee?
What was your business background?
What do you feel is your main role as a franchise owner?
Please describe a typical day
Are you active in the franchise — if so about how many hours per week?
On a scale of 1-10
- How would you rate your initial training?
- How would you rate your ongoing training?
- How would you rate your ongoing support?
- How do you rate the marketing and advertising and promotional programs?
- How involved in site selection was the franchise company?
- How difficult is it to find, train and retain employees?
Did you see steady growth as a franchise?
If you had to do it again would you?
Do you own, or would like to own, additional units?
Is there anything else that you would like to share with me?
One more tip. To get at the heart of any answer you’d like to know more about, ask a simple question, “Why do you say that?” Drill down into root causes; not surface level responses.