Please Help: I Keep Wondering How to Franchise My Restaurant

Running a successful business is no achievement to shy away from being proud of. It's hard to run a business properly. Getting your food establishment to a place where it is thriving and making profits is something you should be deeply proud of.

Hitting this benchmark allows for opportunities that won't be afforded to many other business owners. It allows for the possibility of expansion and growth in a major way. For many successful restaurant owners, this means franchising. 

Many business owners out there have the same issue: 'I don't know how to franchise my restaurant!' Luckily, we can walk you through the basics and set you on the proper path towards an expanded and exciting future. It's easier than it's ever been.

Interested? Keep reading.



Franchising Your Restaurant 

Making the decision to expand into a franchise is a big one, but there are obvious reasons why so many different businesses tend to go in this direction.

Franchising allows you to grow your share of the market and increase profits by a large margin. You'll be able to increase your capital, streamline your business practices, and increase the overall value of your brand if you go forward with franchising. 

Before you go about franchising, you'll need to make sure that your business is ready for this big step. Consider this: are you making a profit? Is your current system scalable, and is your brand recognizable and protectable? 

If yes, then you can begin to look forward to making your dreams of franchising a reality. It's time to determine how to franchise a restaurant.

Build the Right Team

Starting a franchise can be a very large job. It's not likely something you'll want to take on all on your own. You'll want to get the right people in your corner if you hope to pull off the task of this kind of expansion.

First and foremost, you'll likely want to retain the help of an attorney. This is especially true if this is your first foray into franchising. There's going to be mountains of paperwork that you're going to have to get through and many potentially dicey legal matters.

There are going to be a lot of transactions you'll be involved in, many contracts you'll need to sign, and agreements you'll need to enter into. 

Having a committed attorney by your side as you navigate this process can be helpful; some might even say essential. If you hire an attorney with experience helping a restaurant franchise, you'll have someone at your side who can look out for potential legal problems and pitfalls, and guide you through tasks that might be deeply confusing to you otherwise.

The less you have to worry about legal matters, the better. You can turn your attention to the quality of the brand in your building instead.

Speaking of, you might also want to consider hiring a franchise consultant. These are individuals or entities who have a vast amount of experience in putting restaurants together. 

They can analyze your current business standings and help you make the transition into a proper franchise. Consultants typically have years of experience and an impressive success rate. They can guide you successfully towards your goals of expansion and hold your hand through each and every step of the process.

Prepare Your Paperwork

There's a lot that needs to be ironed out before you can hand your franchise off to a franchisee. 

You'll need to create a franchise disclosure document, for one. This is a legal document that discloses a summary of your franchise to prospective buyers and franchise investors. It will outline operational requirements, estimated start-up costs, and the fees that the franchisee will need to pay in order to operate under your brand.

It will also outline the legal relationship between you and your franchisees (you can see why you'll need that attorney!), as well as pertinent background information on the history of your restaurant so far.

You'll also need to provide expected standard operating procedures for your franchise.

The name of the game when it comes to franchising is mitigating risk. You've run your restaurant for some time now and you've likely determined much of what works and what doesn't.

It's time to lock these lessons into a concrete plan that can be followed from location to location. These operating procedures should cover everything from the menu to marketing. Things need to stay consistent so customers can come to understand what to expect from your brand, no matter which location they visit.

Legal Steps to Take

Expanding into a franchise also will open up a lot more legal liability for yourself and your business. You'll need to take a few steps to prepare yourself for these new challenges.

One of the most important things you'll need to do is ensure that your intellectual property is well protected. When you grant a franchise to a franchisee, you are giving away, in a sense, your most valuable asset: your brand.

You need to ensure that a franchisee has a limited license to use all the trademarks associated with your brand. In order to protect all this intellectual property, you'll need to get all trademarks associated with your business protected. That means registering them with the US Patent and Trademark Office.

You'll also likely want to establish a brand new LLC for your franchise business, but an attorney and consultant can walk you through whether that step is right for you.

Know How to Franchise My Restaurant

If you've been thinking 'I don't know how to franchise my restaurant,' then hopefully the above information has provided a respite from this issue. While there will still be many more details you'll need to dig into to successfully launch your franchise, the above information should help you to get a grasp on the basics of this big step.

Have more questions specific to your own business? Give us a call anytime for assistance in making this big step forward.