Franchise Testimonials
There was a period a few months ago when I was researching a particular niche in the Business Opportunity sector, which forms a major part of the Internet landscape. It is populated largely by a surreal mix of self-professed high-fliers who post photos of themselves, their Ferraris, their pool-side afternoons and their Google checks on web sites and blogs.
One particular site had an unusually large number of testimonials which said things like: “Thanks Jim, since signing-up for your Internet Marketing course my sales went up by 500%” and “…after applying the lessons I learned from your course I was able to quit my full time job…” What was unsual about this site was that full names and partial addresses were given in the testimonials and it was easy to track down the web sites, blogs and articles about these people.
One had a criminal record for child abuse, one’s web site was down, all of them had traffic which, according to Alexa was so low that I doubt any of them had more than five visitors a week. Most of them are selling the same stuff: How to get rich on the Internet. Some are dressed up to look like franchises or genuine business opportunities, but the disguises are usually easy to see through.
This raises the question of how much to you trust the testimonials that franchisors often show to prospective franchisees… and the answer is: Not at all until you’ve spoken to them personally yourself.
In the first few months after signing up as a new franchisee it is easy to be swept up in the optimism and hope one feels when starting a new venture and that is probably the time when most of the glowing testimonials are written.
Track these people down, see if they are still in business, arrange to meet with them. Even if they are still happy with their choice of business it is almost certain that they will have some suggestions or criticisms that you can raise with the franchisor. Perhaps you’ll be able to swing a better deal, or have a contract clause changed.
At the very least you’ll go into the business relationship with far more information than you would have had if you had not gone to the trouble of speaking to as many franchisees as you possibly can find.
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