Writen by Lance Winslow
Due to the over regulation in the Franchising Industry and the litigation it is important to keep impeccable records. From the first phone call, email to the signing of the franchise agreement everything should be documented. Below is a checklist we created for our franchise company and one I wish you would consider when creating your own. I recommend you copy this article and then modify it to fit your business model.
You must understand that without proper documentation you might find your company entangled in meaningless and wasteful litigation instead of spending the time on expanding your market share and brand name. Below is our sample checklist we use at the Car Wash Guys, you may have this and modify it at will, I dismiss any copyrights to you. Now remember our Franchise is a specialty type business, mobile car wash and the franchisee must be in excellent physical condition, where as your business model may wish to screen for other things.
1. Telephone Interview with Founder or Designated Person. (Minimum 30 min.) Friendly conversation; Lots of listening. Notes will be taken on "Pre-Screening Phone Worksheet". This worksheet will be kept in a file if prospective franchisee is qualified. A resume will be asked for at this point. It should be faxed or mailed to headquarters. If none is available, one will be created from the phone interview.
2. Resume Is Reviewed and compared to notes from phone interview for consistency. If it is acceptable, then we proceed. If it is not, process ends here. If, during the phone interview we created a resume for the prospective franchisee, it will be mailed to them so they can use it in their next interview. We will also send a copy to A Contract Employment Agency, a company with whom we network. They in turn will send us qualified prospects.
3. Timed Run is performed by prospective franchisee. Designated Person will time prospective franchisee on a running track. He or she must run one mile in under 7:30 minutes. "Timed Run Form" will be signed and dated by both prospective franchisee and Designated Person. If , He or she fails test, they will be given a workout schedule based on their actual time. They may try again in two weeks, or when they feel ready.
4. Ride Along with a crew. Two crews will be assigned to a new prospective franchisee. After the run, on the same day, prospective franchisee will spend all day helping a crew.
Second Ride Along will occur the following day with a different crew to assure that the prospective franchisee understands how much work there is.
5. File Is Created in prospective franchisee's name. Included are: Pre-Screening Phone Worksheet, Resume, Timed Run Form, Ride Along with Summaries from Crews. This checklist will be paper clipped to front of file.
6. Letter Of Intent is asked for from prospective franchisee. When received it is put in file and "Request to Join Team" form is sent out.
7. Request To Join Team Form is mailed to prospective franchisee. It must be mailed back in 15 days or prospective franchisee must go back and work on a third crew for one day. Hesitation means they are not quite sure yet or they falsified information.
8. Reviewing Of Request To Join Team Form will be screened by two Ride Along Crew managers and three other franchisees or independent contractors, a woman not associated with our company, a Quality Control consultant, a customer or the founder. All people Involved get one vote except Founder; he gets three. (Unless there is a third Ride Along Crew, then he gets only two). Prospective Franchisee must have 2/3rds. (12 Total, 8 to win!)
9. Request To Join Team Form Is Faxed to our favorite leasing company if they will be borrowing to buy the franchise or Wells Fargo Bank where the credit card processing will be done. Leasing company will notify us if prospective franchisee is credit worthy and fax us a TRW print out. Wells Fargo will do a background check and see if prospective franchisee qualifies for a merchant account.
10. Extensive Background Check will be done by a contracted private investigation firm. Check will include: FBI Report, Court Records, etc. He/she must pass or other arrangements must be made.
11. Meet With Prospective Franchisee - This will be the first official one on one meeting. Present at this meeting will be prospective franchisee, and his advisors, spouse, parents, investors, etc. Also present: Founder or Designated Person and eight other associates, members of the Executive Committee and franchisees or independent contractors.
12. Vote On Prospective Franchisee to determine if prospective franchisee is good enough. All information will be on the table, literally. On the table will be: Credit Report, Wells Fargo Approval Application, Leasing Company Tentative Approval, FBI Report, Court Records, Letter of Intent, Etc. He/she will be able to defend themselves against hearsay or false information on collected documents. Other items on table will be Pre-Screening Phone Worksheet, Resume, Timed Run Form, Ride Along Summaries and of course, The Request To Join Our Team Document. All nine people vote; Anyone absent will have their vote replaced by Founder or Designated Person. (2/3rds to win)
13. Approval will initiate a distribution of agreements for the prospective franchisee to sign:
Franchise Agreement
Franchise Offering Circular
Leasing Application for Equipment
Cellular Agreement
Supply Ordering Agreement
Non-Disclosure Agreement
Bank Account Forms & Merchant Account Agreement
Non-Competition Of Other Franchisees Promise
Fictious Name Statement
Document Receipt Form.
14. Returning of Forms - The prospective franchisee will return signed forms. No payment may be taken for 10 business days. We will use fifteen days to be safe. He/she may be placed in training until then.
Lance Winslow