Most franchisees don’t buy their franchise thinking they will have it forever. As soon as franchisors start offering “exit strategy” and resales support to their franchisee base they will likely have a healthier chain of franchisees.

My experience with franchisors regarding their resales has been a mixed bag. What I found interesting is that the franchisors that considered resales as “headaches” had long term problems with their resales. Since these franchisors opted to stay more than an arm’s length away from the resales process, the franchisees felt alone, unsupported and angry. So this scenario kind of created a self-fulfilling prophecy that resales are a “pain” for the franchisors. During the worst years of the recent recession, with many franchisees not able to make their businesses work, often “selling off” was their only option. Franchisors in this “hands-off” camp seemed to only make things worse by not offering any leadership to their outgoing zees.

And those franchisors that offered a list of resources (both internal and external) to existing franchisees that wished to sell, usually experienced more timely and smooth resales. The franchisees in those companies felt that they had support from the brand to the very end of their relationship. This in turn creates positive validation and healthier businesses in the resales stable of that brand.

Let’s face it…most franchisees don’t buy their franchise thinking they will have it forever. As soon as franchisors start offering “exit strategy” and resales support to their franchisee base they will likely have a healthier chain of franchisees.

Nancy Estep Critchett

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