Tip: If you are thinking about buying a franchise, Heather Schuster, CLP, co-owner of Terra Firma Landscape, Inc., in Muskego, Wisconsin, has a couple of tips to offer.

If you are thinking about buying a franchise, Heather Schuster, CLP, co-owner of Terra Firma Landscape, Inc., in Muskego, Wisconsin, has a couple of tips. Schuster, with husband David Schuster, CLT, owns two franchises in southeastern Wisconsin — Christmas Décor and Weed Man. Says Schuster, “Contractors who talk with me about our experience with franchises have two questions they always want answered — and three they should have answered. The two they always ask are: ’What type of investment do I need to make?’ and ’When will I start making money?’” The franchisor’s Web site will answer the first question, Schuster notes, but only a seasoned franchisee can answer the second one about a profitability timeline; franchisors will not make a promise about when a franchise will be profitable.

Then, there are the following three questions that every prospective franchisee should ask.

1.         What is the satisfaction level of a franchise? In otherwords, what type of support does the franchisor offer (e.g., training, office support, marketing support, and the quality of training overall for both managers and field personnel)?

2.         What is the buying power of the franchise (e.g., what type of access will you have to specialty products and discounts)?

3.         What type of technology does the franchisor offer, especially in regard to tracking customers and sales?

The best sources of information regarding most any franchise are current franchise owners, Schuster reemphasizes. You can find their names, addresses, and phone numbers by searching for dealers on the franchisor’s national Web site.

In addition to Weed Man and Christmas Décor, contractors may be interested in other franchise opportunities in lawn maintenance, irrigation, and night lighting. Most, if not all, will ask for royalty payments. “Why should a franchisee pay royalties?” The answer, says Schuster, is to help fund the marketing, training, systems, and support that a franchisor has in place. As she points out from experience, “The faster new service providers can develop systems, the faster they will make a profit.”

By Heather Schuster, CLP

Terra-Firma Landscape, Inc.

Muskego, Wisconsin

hschuster@wi.rr.com