National Post: Massaging growth

John Sotos was recently quoted in a National Post article on franchising. The article discusses some of the challenges — and opportunities — encountered by would-be franchisors. Mr. Sotos is quoted:

Whatever the motivation, it usually takes would-be franchisors about 18 months to adequately prepare all the back-end systems, processes, manuals, real estate, marketing and legal work to make the venture successful, says John Sotos, a franchise lawyer in Toronto.

Financial preparation is also important. On average, franchisors need access to about $500,000 up front to make it work, although it varies, Mr. Sotos says. “You don’t have to spend it all up front and you won’t, but it’s an expensive process and it’s front-end loaded.

“We find a lot of franchisors are under-capitalized because they fail to do the first step, which is to hire the right people to help them prepare themselves for franchising,” he adds.

No longer are they running a restaurant, a muffin shop or a hotel. “They are now teaching other people how to be success businesspeople,” he says.

Read the full article online at the National Post: http://www.nationalpost.com/todays-paper/Massaging+growth/3720800/story.html