Great news for you, if you are still looking to buy a franchise, there are plenty of events to help you to do so, there always has been historically anyway, but the covid pandemic put a temporary halt to some of them of course, and as we now get back to some normality you can expect a ramping up of easy to attend events to lure you back into the franchise market!
Franchise Exhibitions Are Free To Attend For You!
This might seem too good to be true, however, exhibitions are very well supported by the franchise sector, often through initial sponsorship and then franchised brands who pay per stand to be able to be in the mix of flying their franchise brand to you, it really is a great opportunity to be in front and potentially many thousands of people over a one or two-day duration. London Excel will host one of the UK’s largest franchise exhibitions in April 2022 and the expected numbers are a couple of hundred exhibitors and as many as ten thousand people, just like you, looking to buy a franchise.
Franchise Brands Do Want To Talk To You!
Don’t be fooled by the slick and colourful branded stands, sometimes also suited and booted consultants and employees, many franchisors, having spent considerable sums to get to this point, as well as significant preparation and travelling, do just want to have a conversation with you! This is their sole focus as ‘potential franchise enquiries’ is the main purpose of the event for them!
Prepare In Advance And Plan Who To See At A Show
Register early for the event and you will automatically end up on a mailing list, use this to your advantage! You might well end up with several emails with further information about who is attending and also see more details about what is being offered within the franchise, look though all of these and mark ones that look of interest to then see them in person at the show on the day, at the same time you might initially rule some out, maybe from a list of say two hundred exhibitors, you might now get down to a few dozen, and that is a much more manageable figure for the day!
On the day attendance can be easier too, as you will be given a show booklet with all the exhibitors names and whereabouts in the hall, sit down in the coffee area and plan your day ahead, then, walk round the entire hall before you talk to anyone, that way you will feel more familiar with the surrounding area and a better feel for who is where!
Use An Exhibition As Just One Part Of Your Franchise Search
Whist great to do, franchise exhibitions should only form part of your research into buying a franchise, you will find that you are probably unable to dig too deep into a specific franchise offering at a show, purely because there really isn’t the time, for you or the franchisor, and it definitely isn’t the place to go into the complete detail of what included in the particular franchise you are enquiring about, most often, you details will be taken, as well as some brief discussion, to then follow-up with you post show, often by the way of sending some initial information to see if the franchise is what you thought it might be, to then have some further dialogue with you if the brand is still of some interest to you.
Attend The Free Seminars At The Show
Another free resource for you as a visitor, you can simply, walk-in to any that you see are taking place, or plan-head with the seminar programme to guarantee a seat, look at the headline about what will be talked about, this might be on a topic or brand that you are interested in, run by experts who have the knowledge that you will want! There will also be a Q & A session at the end of the seminar, so you can ask away, or indeed, if you ask to discuss in private, the host will often make themselves available for you.
Franchisor’s Will Not Expect You To Sign-Up On The Day!
If you are feeling more anxious about attending an exhibition like this, and concerned that you will end up committing to something that you are really not ready for, then please do not fear, the art of franchising is to ensure that you can make a considered purchase once you have all the information you need, research into a franchise is very often several stages, and opting to give the franchise brand your name and details in exchange for further information is simply a very early stage for them, in fact, should you try and ‘buy’ a franchise at an early stage, you will often rule yourself out!
Do Not Be Afraid To Say No!
You can imagine that franchise brands are exhibiting to be in a better position to sell more units or territories, but it is also fair to say that any franchise brand is looking for the right fit above all else, and you might feel that they simply your details to then bombard you with further information and sales patter, but this is further from the truth than you realise, sure, it is a numbers game, but franchisors would rather spend their time with anyone that has a genuine interest in the brand and will respect you for saying if their one isn’t quite right for you!
Franchise exhibitions are a great networking tool too, surround yourself with franchise brands, suppliers, consultants, suppliers and of course, you will also be amongst several thousand people who are looking to do exactly what you are doing! Franchising is never a lonely place, come and be part of it!
Richard Pakey is a franchising expert and Regional Director for the award-winning Lime Licensing Group and can be contacted in the following ways:
- QFA Profile
- Mobile/text/whatsapp: 07904 697591
