A franchise tool launched in early February hopes to connect prospective franchisees with franchisors via an online hub that leads hopeful entrepreneurs to the business purchase process - with a little help from social networking.
Tom Hochstatter, co-founder of FranchiseProcess LLC, says the online FranchiseProcess tool helps franchisee hopefuls "get to the starting line of the reward process for a franchise" by guiding them through all of the initial groundwork, like getting finances in order and finding attorneys and accountants.
The process integrates social networking to help the prospective franchisee engage with brands and other professional services along the way.
Hochstatter says entrepreneurs are not interested in getting calls from brokers or having to fill out generic forms on a brand's website. FranchiseProcess, he says, creates an online environment where brands and leads can meet in the middle to find a perfect fit.
"It's controlled by the lead candidate or prospect," Hochstatter said. "We let them drive."
To use the service, franchisee hopefuls sign up for accounts on FranchiseProcess and fill out information about themselves. They then create a list of brands they're interested in franchising and work on achieving certain goals those brands have set forth as part of their qualification.
Prospective franchisees can also create a network of people on FranchiseProcess that help them make it to the point when they're ready to purchase a franchise.
Member brands on FranchiseProcess have the ability to monitor entrepreneurs interested in franchising their brands and can engage with them on the system, Hochstatter added.
By moving through the process, prospective franchisees prove their worth to their franchisor, he said. "By virtue of following this process, you've proven to the brand that you are in fact willing to follow a process, which makes the most successful franchise owners in the first place."
FranchiseProcess has already partnered with more than 300 brands. Several top quick-serve brands, like Subway, are listed on its site.
Hochstatter says FranchiseProcess ultimately wants to help small-business owners.
Leads that are unqualified for certain brands are not discarded but, rather, are guided to other potential brands, he explained.
FranchiseProcess, part of the International Franchise Association, officially launched February 8.
– Compiled by Kevan O'Brien
from Western Investor, March 2011
