How to set up a franchise: The journey from enquiry to launch- from a franchisee

To invest in a franchise, prospects tread a well-travelled path – from initial enquiry all the way through to launch day, the journey is so familiar to many. Every franchisee has undertaken the route from enquiry to launch, but what exactly should this process look like?

When researching a franchise opportunity, it’s always great to hear from someone who has been through the process themselves – and who better to find out what it is you can expect from your initial training and your first foray into franchising than from a franchisee?

Here, Bhabani Sahoo, franchisee for Monkey Puzzle Day Nurseries, talks us through his journey from prospect to franchisee, having launched his Horsham setting this September.

The lightbulb moment

For me, investing in my own franchise really was that lightbulb moment that so many claim to have experienced – and my own ‘aha!’ moment came when I was in the process of finishing a degree in management. Me and my wife, Sampa, were struggling to find a nursery place for our daughter. There were lots of factors as to why, but the quality of our options was not there.

I suddenly thought, with the knowledge I had garnered from my management degree and my previous career in IT and my wife’s skillset working in education, we could be on to something. We’d always wanted to do something together and the path became clearer – running our own nursery.

Thorough research was my next step. I looked at the competitors, the demand for nurseries in our area, what properties were available – the full nine yards. It gave me a comprehensive picture of the options available to us and hence we decided what our next steps would be to achieve our dream of opening a nursery – we needed the backing of a franchise.

Why a franchise? Well, there’s the obvious advantage of access to a proven business model along with ongoing support, reducing the risks associated with starting a business from scratch. With a franchise, you're tapping into a network of expertise, marketing and operational systems, giving you greater peace of mind. It’s a win-win.

The perfect fit

Having decided we were going to invest in a nursery franchise – more research was on the cards. This is a crucial step that must come at the very beginning of your investment journey. No matter the industry or brand you invest in, you need to be fully aware you meet their requirements, understanding their terms, fees and expectations. Before speaking with a franchisor, prepare questions about their model, their profitability and their support systems.

Reach out to existing franchisees to get a clearer picture – as a general rule of thumb, franchisors who discourage you from contacting franchisees should stand out as a red flag. By speaking with franchisees that are already operational, you will begin to build a good picture of what your desired brand looks like and what your own motivations are.

In our case, from our experience with our daughter, we weren’t going to compromise on quality. Monkey Puzzle Day Nurseries stood out. We could see that they had nearly two decades’ experience of producing excellent settings – we didn’t just want to open our own nursery; we wanted it to be outstanding.

Our mind was made up. Monkey Puzzle was the answer, but now it was time for the nitty gritty. Signing the Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) is one of the most important steps in your journey to becoming a franchisee – review it thoroughly until you are fully confident that you understand all the legal implications, obligations and restrictions.

Once completed, you can sign the dotted line and become a franchisee. For me and my wife it was a proud moment – we were on the right path to achieving our dream.

Preparing to launch

All franchisees undertake initial training to really get to grips with the brand. This can sometimes feel like a baptism of fire, with so much information to take in during a short space of time, but this element of training is crucial to your operations. My advice would be to approach this period with an open mind, ready to learn – remember that you’re learning from the experts.

Some businesses can be run remotely, or certainly start that way; however, in our case, we needed to source a physical location. Your franchisor should support you through the process of identifying your ideal premises, along with providing you with the resources you need to hire your staff and promote the opening of your business, locally and further afield. Take advantage of these resources and don’t be too proud to ask for additional guidance and support if you need it.

Knowing your next steps

As your time as a franchisee progresses, the franchisor should be in touch regularly to provide support and continue to monitor performance.

We have a long-term goal to achieve an ‘Outstanding’ rating through Ofsted – it is what me and Sampa set out to do, but we also want to help the community. We struggled to find a nursery place for our daughter, so anything we can do to give back, or make someone’s life a little easier, is high on our agenda.

The journey from enquiry to launch is a commitment and your heart needs to be in it. You need to really think about what your skills are and also what motivates you. Knowing this will help you decide on which industry and hence which brand to invest in. In our case, it’s been such a rewarding journey, and the best is yet to come. I’m excited to see what the future holds!