how to buy and sell a franchise

6 steps to selling your franchise

• 1. Get your ducks in a row Before you start to advertise it for sale, ensure your business is neat and tidy. ...
• 2. Create a prospectus of sale In order to sell your business, you’ll need to create a prospectus of sale. ...
• 3. Appoint a solicitor ...
• 4. Franchisor approval ...
• 5. Advertise your business ...
• 6. Non-disclosure agreement ...

Full Answer

What are the steps of buying a franchise?

• Matches your financial resources
• Provides you with the lifestyle you imagined
• Uses your particular skills and experience
• Provides a recession-resistant product or service
• Has a majority of happy and successful franchisees
• Employs an experienced and enthusiastic staff of personnel who will help you achieve your dreams of business ownership success

How to get financing to buy a franchise?

What is the Best Way to Buy a Franchise?

• 401 (k) Business Financing. Even better, ROBS allows you to finance your business without debt, early withdrawal fees or tax penalties.
• Small Business Administration Loan (SBA Loan) An SBA loan is a government-backed loan aimed at helping American entrepreneurs fund their businesses.
• Other Ways to Fund Your Franchise. ...

How to increase sales in a franchise?

• In-Store Advertising. Although it may seem simple, you can use your own stores to broadcast your business. ...
• Networking. Typically, when people think of networking, many think of finding a job. ...
• Internet Marketing. One of the largest and most powerful franchise marketing tools is the Internet. ...

How to make your own franchise in 5 steps?

• Set Realistic Goals. Franchising is more of a marathon than a sprint. ...
• Research Your Competitors. ...
• Develop Your Franchise Offering for Both Individual and Multi-Unit Sales. ...
• Make Sure Your FDD Is Compliant for Every State. ...
• Learn Franchising and Get Involved in the Franchise Community. ...

What happens if a franchisee dies?

Why is a buy sell agreement important?

What is fixed price buy sell?

How to get a higher end buyout?

What happens if you don't have a buy-sell agreement?

Is a buy sell agreement a protection test?

Can a franchisor be a successor?

See 2 more

About this website

Can you sell a franchise that you bought?

Most franchise agreements contain strict limitations on the franchisee's ability to sell their franchised business. Fundamentally this makes sense, as the franchisor needs to make sure that it has final say over who gets to do business under its name and using its proprietary system and methodologies.

How much do you sell a franchise for?

Franchises are often valued based on a multiple of revenue, cash flow, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). As the name implies, the EBITDA method adds back some expenses to the earnings total, and a franchise can be valued at 4 to 5 times EBITDA.

How do you sell an existing franchise?

Whether you are ready to sell or you are just considering it, here are our top tips for selling an existing franchise:List your franchise for sale on FranchiseFlippers.com. ... List your franchise on other online business listing websites. ... Reach out to fellow franchise owners in your franchise system personally.More items...

Is buying a franchise profitable?

Buying a franchise might seem like easy money, but those royalties and fees will quickly cut into profit margins. The majority of franchise owners earn less than $50,000 per year.

Is it hard to sell a franchise?

Selling an operating franchise has a higher success rate than selling an independent business because most buyers place a high value on the support provided by the franchisors. Unlike franchises, most independent businesses lack the infrastructure and systems that make a business attractive to buyers.

How do franchise owners get paid?

How do franchise owners get paid? Franchise owners can pay themselves a salary or depending on their business entity, they may be able to take a draw from their accumulated equity.

How long does it take to sell a franchise?

The average franchise sales cycle is 12 to 20 weeks On average, the total time to close a franchise sale can be up to 20 weeks.

How much do franchise owners make a year?

According to a survey done by Franchise Business Review involving 28,500 franchise owners, the average pre-tax annual income of franchise owners is about 80,000 dollars.

Can you walk away from a franchise?

There are many reasons why a franchisor or franchisee may not want to renew a franchise agreement. Thankfully for the franchisee, there is nothing to stop them from closing up and walking away when the agreement expires.

Are franchise Owners Rich?

The bottom line is that while a franchise can make you independently wealthy, it isn't a guarantee. Choosing the right business in the right industry, and going in with preexisting entrepreneurial experience and/or existing wealth can help, but your income-generating potential may still be somewhat limited.

What is the failure rate for a franchise?

Pretty much every year the survey has been conducted has shown between 8-12% of franchise businesses left their franchise each year. This is for a variety of reasons, including retirement, selling, ill-health and financial failure.

What is the most profitable franchise to own in 2022?

Top 14 Most Profitable FranchisesMcDonald's. Units in operation: 39,360. ... Dunkin Donuts. Units in operation: 12,800. ... Taco Bell. Units in operation 12,800. ... Subway Franchise. Offers Financing: Yes. ... Anytime Fitness Franchise. Units in operation: 4,904. ... Sonic. Royalty: 2.5% - 5.0% ... Planet Fitness. Royalty 7.0% ... Orangetheory Fitness.More items...

How much does a McDonald's franchise cost?

McDonald's franchisee applicants must have a minimum of $500,000 available in liquid assets and pay a $45,000 franchise fee. Those looking to launch a new McDonald's franchise can expect to shell out between $1,314,500 and $2,306,500. Existing franchise prices can cost upwards of $1 million or more.

What is the failure rate for a franchise?

Pretty much every year the survey has been conducted has shown between 8-12% of franchise businesses left their franchise each year. This is for a variety of reasons, including retirement, selling, ill-health and financial failure.

How much profit do franchise owners make?

When researchers accounted for the inflations caused by the few top franchises, it was established that the average annual income of 51 percent of franchisees is less than 50,000 dollars. The study also found that only 7 percent of franchise owners earn over 250,000 dollars a year.

How long does it take to sell a franchise?

The average franchise sales cycle is 12 to 20 weeks On average, the total time to close a franchise sale can be up to 20 weeks.

What happens if a franchisee dies?

And many franchise agreements include similar provisions. In both cases there is language in the agreement that talks about what would happen if the business owner or franchisee dies. But close examination of the language reveals that it only provides for an “option to purchase.” In other words, the co-owners or the franchisor are given an opportunity to buy the interests of a deceased owner, but may not be obligated to do so.

Why is a buy sell agreement important?

A buy-sell agreement is every bit as important for a business as is a will for individuals. Without a buy-sell agreement, there may be no plan for unexpected contingencies. Would your spouse continue the franchise? Is this realistic? Wouldn’t it be better to leave cash?

What is fixed price buy sell?

Fixed price buy-sell agreements are simplest. All the owners have to do is agree on a price. Unfortunately, the fact is that most owners don’t update their agreements, creating real problems if value changes over time.

How to get a higher end buyout?

Make sure to look at comparable businesses in similar industries for multiples of earnings to see if you’ve got a competitive valuation pricing. You want to have a good valuation to get a higher end buyout if possible. That involves making sure the business is running efficiently, so look to consultants and experts who can help you enhance your value coming into the sale or bidding process. Get an outside valuation to firm up your asking price (which will also be due diligence to show to the buyer).

What happens if you don't have a buy-sell agreement?

If you do not already have a buy-sell agreement in place for your franchise, you may expose your family to financial hardship or a difficult negotiation with co-owners, key employees and key vendors. You can protect them better with a thoughtful, well-designed business planning.

Is a buy sell agreement a protection test?

This fails the protection test. We began this discussion of buy-sell agreements with the idea of providing real financial protection for the franchise owner’s family. But the family is not protected unless someone has an obligation to provide cash (on a very timely basis) in exchange for the deceased owner’s franchise interests. Without an obligation, the family may be exposed to potential financial hardship.

Can a franchisor be a successor?

The answer, of course, may depend on the terms of your franchise agreement. If you’re a franchisor, there are at least four potential candidates to be your franchise successor. The terms of your franchise agreement may require that the franchise sell back to the franchisor (as mentioned above, a ROFR). You may be co-owners of a franchisee and your co-franchisee (s) would be the most likely successor. There may be other franchise owners in your community who would be interested in buying you out. There might be a key employee who could be groomed to run the franchise after you. Depending on the size and growth of your business, your company may also be an appealing acquisition candidate for a third party buyer. A knowledgeable investment banker with experience in the world of franchisors and franchisees could be a critical advisor to you on this point.

What is a franchise agreement?

The franchise agreement that is executed by the franchisor and the franchisee contains, among a lot of other detailed requirements, strict and copious rules and restrictions for the transfer of the franchise rights. Specifically, if you own a franchise – whether it be for burgers, healthcare, fitness, hotels or any other franchise system – there ...

How long do franchise rights last?

Franchisors typically award franchise rights to a franchisee for a minimum of five years and many times quite a bit longer. Most sales of existing franchised units happen in more mature franchise systems rather than in very young ones; though occasionally, a new franchisee realizes early on that they are in over their heads and need to be bailed out – usually by the franchisor.

Why do franchisors have in-house programs?

Some franchisors have in-house programs designed to assist their franchisees in selling their existing units. This is particularly true for a mature brand. One reason for this is that most franchisors award territorial franchises; that is, each franchisee, for as long as it meets minimum operating standards (including sales targets, inspection scores, etc.) has the exclusive right to operate that franchise in a specific territory (subject to the other terms of its franchise agreement). If the franchisor has another qualified candidate for that specific territory, the franchisor is likely to assist its existing franchisee in selling its franchise rights.

What is the importance of knowing what the other fees a buyer will be obliged to pay?

This is particularly pertinent when establishing a price for your business.

Can a franchisor sell a franchise?

Some franchisors will contract with unrelated firms such as Worldwide Business Brokers to sell existing franchise units. This does not eliminate or reduce the resale restrictions in the franchise agreement but only takes the franchisor out of the re-sale business. The existing franchisee that wants to sell and the potential franchisee that wants to buy still need to meet all the requirements outlined in the franchise agreement and the franchisor still needs to approve the sale.

Do you vet a potential buyer before selling a franchise?

All of this means that you would be wise to vet your potential buyers early on – before you even disclose any financial information – by finding out what your franchisor’s requirements are; or enlist the assistance of a business broker with experience in the sale of franchises. Such experienced brokers know the ropes, understand the FDD ( Franchise Disclosure Document) and work with legal counsel that specializes in franchise law, all to your benefit.

Do you have to have the same training for a franchise?

The buyer and its managers will have to meet the same educational requirements, meet the same financial and net worth qualifications, attend the same training classes, go through the same franchisor vetting process, sign a new, current and possibly more onerous franchise agreement and essentially meet all the franchisor’s standards that you did; and maybe more, if those standards have changed which, if your franchise is more than a couple of years old, is probably the case.

Selling an existing franchise

For franchisees who are ready to sell their established businesses, here’s a piece of good news: According to a study conducted at Palm Beach Atlantic University’s Rinker School of Business, franchise resale prices are higher than those of non-franchise businesses.

Step 1: Prepare Your Franchise for Sale

Start by contacting your franchisor. There is no reason to keep the sale confidential from your franchisor who is accustomed to their franchisees exiting at some point. Ask if they can help you with a resale or transfer. Find out the extent of assistance they offer. The process varies significantly from franchise to franchise.

Step 2: Market Your Franchise for Sale

Most business brokers use online portals and their own proprietary databases to market businesses for sale. If your franchisor does not aggressively market the sale of your business, a business broker can do this for you.

Step 3 – Negotiate and Close the Deal

Once you’ve found a buyer who is interested in both your business and the franchise model, you can negotiate a price and begin with the closing process.

Selling your franchise opportunity

Every franchisor knows that the success of a franchise system is dependent on franchisee success. So simply selling a franchise is not enough. It really comes down to awarding a franchise to the right person. For franchisors who want to grow their brands with quality candidates, here are three simple ways.

Step 1 – Work with Quality Franchise Brokers

Working with quality franchise brokers is an effective and popular way for franchisors to find ideal candidates. In fact, franchise referral consultants (a.k.a brokers) have been found as the top source for lead conversions.

Step 2 – Exhibit at Trade Shows

Exhibiting at trade shows is a great way for franchisors to get in front of potential candidates face-to-face. Trade shows allow franchisors to market their brands to a large number of qualified prospects at one time. This in-person opportunity gives both parties a chance to get to know each other in a casual setting.

How to sell a franchise?

You also need to prepare to sell your franchise before you actually place it on the market. Included among the preparations you will need to do are establishing the value of the franchise, setting a price, compiling financial information, notifying key employees (if necessary), and putting together a sales packet.

How to promote a franchise?

Make certain to abundantly promote your franchise through every possible avenue. If you need help with this, you might even want to consider listing it with an agent. Also take some time to practice your sales pitch. Recruit a few friends to critique your pitch before you "go live" with actual buyers.

How to keep your franchisor informed?

It's important to keep your franchisor informed about your plans to sell the franchise at the very beginning of the sales process. Many franchisors have rules regulating franchise sales. These rules should have been listed in the franchise contract you signed when you bought the franchise. Go back over those rules with the franchisor to make sure everyone is on the same page.

Can a franchisor sell a franchise?

Your franchisor might also be able to offer assistance in selling your franchise. Sometimes franchisors are aware of potential buyers who are interested in a specific territory and are looking for a relatively "turnkey" operation.

Is it necessary to know the market before you list your franchise?

It is absolutely imperative to have a basic understanding of the market before you list your franchise. How much have similar operations sold for recently? Is the market hot or cold right now? What type of person is most likely to buy a franchise like yours?

Do you have to prepare for a franchise sale?

Be aware that some franchise sales require more upfront preparation than others. Again, talk to your franchisor for specific advice about what you may need to do for the sale of your franchise.

What happens if a franchisee dies?

And many franchise agreements include similar provisions. In both cases there is language in the agreement that talks about what would happen if the business owner or franchisee dies. But close examination of the language reveals that it only provides for an “option to purchase.” In other words, the co-owners or the franchisor are given an opportunity to buy the interests of a deceased owner, but may not be obligated to do so.

Why is a buy sell agreement important?

A buy-sell agreement is every bit as important for a business as is a will for individuals. Without a buy-sell agreement, there may be no plan for unexpected contingencies. Would your spouse continue the franchise? Is this realistic? Wouldn’t it be better to leave cash?

What is fixed price buy sell?

Fixed price buy-sell agreements are simplest. All the owners have to do is agree on a price. Unfortunately, the fact is that most owners don’t update their agreements, creating real problems if value changes over time.

How to get a higher end buyout?

Make sure to look at comparable businesses in similar industries for multiples of earnings to see if you’ve got a competitive valuation pricing. You want to have a good valuation to get a higher end buyout if possible. That involves making sure the business is running efficiently, so look to consultants and experts who can help you enhance your value coming into the sale or bidding process. Get an outside valuation to firm up your asking price (which will also be due diligence to show to the buyer).

What happens if you don't have a buy-sell agreement?

If you do not already have a buy-sell agreement in place for your franchise, you may expose your family to financial hardship or a difficult negotiation with co-owners, key employees and key vendors. You can protect them better with a thoughtful, well-designed business planning.

Is a buy sell agreement a protection test?

This fails the protection test. We began this discussion of buy-sell agreements with the idea of providing real financial protection for the franchise owner’s family. But the family is not protected unless someone has an obligation to provide cash (on a very timely basis) in exchange for the deceased owner’s franchise interests. Without an obligation, the family may be exposed to potential financial hardship.

Can a franchisor be a successor?

The answer, of course, may depend on the terms of your franchise agreement. If you’re a franchisor, there are at least four potential candidates to be your franchise successor. The terms of your franchise agreement may require that the franchise sell back to the franchisor (as mentioned above, a ROFR). You may be co-owners of a franchisee and your co-franchisee (s) would be the most likely successor. There may be other franchise owners in your community who would be interested in buying you out. There might be a key employee who could be groomed to run the franchise after you. Depending on the size and growth of your business, your company may also be an appealing acquisition candidate for a third party buyer. A knowledgeable investment banker with experience in the world of franchisors and franchisees could be a critical advisor to you on this point.

Evaluation and Application Process

Goals / Budget

• Develop a Marketing Plan for your franchise which outlines a franchise sales and marketing program for the first 12 months of the Franchise sales effort. Present industry standards for establishing a budget is $1,000 – $3,000 per unit sold on average, it should be your plan and goal to bring this average down and find ways to more efficiently intro...

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