How to start out as a franchisor

Tom Potter, who founded the Eagle Boys Pizza franchise chain in 1987, grew it to 200 stores with an annual turnover of more than $100 million and then sold it.

He has some clear advice for anyone thinking of becoming a franchisor.

“From a strategic point of view for the parent company, my advice would be to have a five year vision, a three year plan, a very clear and precise strategy and then a very good board of directors to help you achieve that.”

“Too many times smaller franchise companies are running out of cash, they haven’t got good advice, they don’t have a good site selection criteria, they don’t understand mass marketing and how important it is. “

“A good example is the sandwich chain that opened up in opposition with Subway a couple of years ago – Wendy’s brought them in from America – and they opened up a couple in Adelaide, a couple in the Gold Coast, a couple in Brisbane and they all went broke. And someone said to me “why?” and I said, well you just open them all up in one town so people know who you were. It’s just basic stuff.”

Read the full interview with Tom Potter.