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I looked at a franchise website’s homepage today, and found that they were all gushy about being listed on the “Franchise Times” Fast 55, so I checked that list out. It even looks like the make a plaque (see photo.)

This list, published by the Franchise Times, lists franchises based on their rate of growth and without regard for the type, size, investment or length of agreement. So, home based franchises such as in the case of Weathersby Guild, is strictly by single-person, work-from home franchisees doing highly skilled labor on site. Just to get a sense of scale for the business, I did a little bit of poking around using a few reverse phone lookups and windows live.local.com which showed me that almost all of the Weathersby folks work from home, often from apartments. There is nothing wrong with that, but consider that Mobile Attic is listed next to them in the list - naturally requiring a vastly larger capital investment (30 containers must be ordered,) a rollback truck, 1-4 acres, and a twenty year agreement. These two franchises are not even the same species. To grow Weathersby by 100%, you find some people ready to be trained in their system and equip them for the work. To do the same for Mobile Attic, you need earthmovers and a steel mill.

Entrepreneurs should try to realize that if the franchise you’re interested are not advertising in these magazines, they may actually be a lot smarter than you think - and any franchises that prominently boasts themselves in such lists could be a tad desperate for market coverage. Look for substance in the press releases. Know which magazines matter, and which are make-believe!

If you’re buying a franchise…Go visit, in person, the franchises you’re considering. I would not let the corporation call ahead - I would just GO. Talk to the owners (not the possibly underpaid staff.) Then…because some franchisees are just plain-old-grumps… go to another town, talk to those owners. And do it until you get a feeling for the company, and whether it’s compatible with your own goals (which you’ve written down, right?) Ask them if you can work for them, for free, for a couple of days.

Spend the time and you’ll not be sorry, especially with $80-100k on the line.

Postscript: While writing this I came across this little jewel of absurdity

“The first and biggest factor is finding a franchise doing something you love! If you love to cook, find a restaurant. If you like to clean up, select a carpet cleaning or maid service. Do not assume that just because you own the franchise that you won’t have to work it, you will have lots of times where an employee won’t show up and you will be doing their job. Doing something you love will make the hard work and long hours bearable!”

No… what makes a business bearable is to design yourself OUT of it. Choose a franchise where you can be profitable and expendable. You should not be required at the location much, if at all. The system should allow you the freedom to live your life the way you want it, not work “long bearable hours.”

If you’re tasked with building a portal for a franchise, where franchisees will share ideas and information through online collaboration tools, here are five tips to make your deployment smooth and effective.� It doesn’t matter which platform you’re using, or if you’re building it from scratch, a franchise portal can be one of the most useful additions to the enterprise - saving time, money, and confusion in a common branded environment, even though the owners are� separated by miles.

1. Keep in mind the widely variant level of computer literacy amongst franchise owners.� Franchisees are not always computer savvy, and often the assumptions made about user abilities will get you into trouble.� � Simplicity is critical in portal design, but not to the point that the system loses its usefulness.� Be careful not to task the portal deployment team with computer training of novice users - that’s a different task.
2. Plan on lots of questions - and provide video training using a screen recording tool.� Adobe Captivate or Camtasia are terrific tools that allow rapid screen recording with narration of commonly-requested functions.� � These recordings are published in Flash, meaning they are visible on 98% or so of all computers on the Internet.� Make sure you use a high quality microphone for narration, and that you not get stuck in “perfection-land.”� Videos like this can be reviewed many times as needed - saving endless phone calls and emails about the same question.
3. Portals are fluid - your first design will not be the last one.� The user community will tell you what’s wrong with the portal.� You will want to listen closely to their feedback and ideas for making the portal better.� This is not a marketing website, and the point of the portal is to remove friction from the enterprise.� Every idea should be considered - but the good of the many should govern the design itself.� � Give credit to users who come up with ideas that are used in designs - this encourages others to participate.
4. Build a team of enthusiasts to run the portal.� You’re going to need moderators for various interactive components such as discussion boards and blogs.� Responses to inquiries on these components needs to be rather quick, or the portal will lose its credibility.� Often the ones who stand to gain most from the portal’s existence (the ones who’s life is being made easier) are the ones best suited to operate a portion of it.� Make sure the team gets lots of credit - they’re work and savings of time is being multiplied across the entire franchise.
5. Make sure that adoption of the portal is consistent, and rewarded.� If some are using unofficial calendars or forums for their work, reel them in.� The portal’s success will be based on its adoption - and this means some compromise.� If functions are not suitable to the user community, consider improving them.�
6. Offer live content through the portal.� Often, a filtered and cleaned set of news feeds are a great way to add value.� By having this information in one place the franchisees will feel they’re saving time and staying informed.� � � Blog feeds from internal or external bloggers are also powerful.
7. Provide rapid support from the corporate franchise entity through the portal.� Make it clear that any other support mechanism is less efficent and probably slower.� Demonstrate the efficiency of the portal to deliver requests and get them solved better than days of phone tag.
8. Make it easy for the portal to be the franchisee’s desktop.� Adding a clock, a weather badge, or other desktop-like items can encourage use of the portal as the home page for the franchisee.� Links to third party vendors and other commonly used services are also important.
9. Stick to the brand identity of the corporation.� Make the entire portal consistent with the brand - and update it to reflect any brand changes.� Set an example to the franchisees on brand consistency.� A portal is an excellent place to post your brand manual and a library of marketing materials.
10. Use the portal to give a personal touch.� Put a face on the information.� Avatars and face icons are a great way to keep things personalized in what can otherwise be a rather distant relationship - especially in a larger franchise.
11. Keep the news feed completely up-to-date.� Make sure that the first place the franchisees hear about any news is on the portal.� Not the local news or via email.� The portal should be the first place any franchise news or changes in policies should be posted.� If the portal can generate RSS feeds then it’s fine for people to use those feeds in their favored feed reader.
12. Manage all franchise-wide date-driven information through the portal.� � Make sure the franchisees can see the activity happening franchise-wide. Give the franchisees an ability to post events and show the buzz of what’s going on.� It builds energy and helps motivate the organization.� No memos, faxes, or emails about events.� Let the portal send out any notifications that might be needed.