Recruiters speak: recruiting and selecting franchisees, a profession in its own right
What makes a franchise formula attractive to prospective franchisees? Franchise organisations are always looking for quality franchisees who help expand the formula successfully. One organisation has prospective franchisees almost handed to them on a plate. Another struggles to engage candidates. Recruiting franchisees is a time-consuming, continuous and meticulous job. There is more to it than placing an advertisement and holding a selection interview.
Not every franchise organisation has this process under control or has the necessary expertise and manpower in-house to run it adequately. The lead time is relatively long and involves a lot of waste and risk. As the Franchise Recruiters of Koelewijn & Partners, we know that recruiting and selecting franchisees is a profession in its own right. Franchisors are not looking for employees, but for successful entrepreneurs who make a positive contribution to the development of the franchise organisation. After all, the franchisor and franchisee are entering a long-term relationship together. For that reason it is professional to outsource (part of) this work to experts who deal with it every day.
Successful recruitment and selection is always tailor-made. Together with the franchisor, a unique plan of approach is shaped. Conditions for a successful collaboration include clear agreements, a sharp focus, thorough preparation (a deep understanding of the organisation and the market), proper follow-up and execution. “Good communication with the client is clearly key. Strong collaboration delivers maximum return.” “Throughout the process we regularly evaluate how things are going: which media channels we are using for lead generation, which gaps need to be filled with priority, how many conversations we have with a candidate, which competencies he or she should meet.”
Entrepreneurship is on the rise
The recruitment department of Koelewijn & Partners works daily on recruiting, informing, advising and selecting prospective franchisees for a wide range of organisations across many sectors. The recruiters see a clear trend: a rise in the number of franchise applications. People are once again willing to start businesses and invest. The rise of alternative financing options such as crowdfunding also contributes to this, and in many cases it is a good solution that allows our prospective franchisees to start their business. “Our office can support starting entrepreneurs with this too.”
The role of online marketing
A growing number of entrepreneurs reach us via online marketing and social media. Our recruitment team has all the expertise to make use of channels such as Franchiseplus, Facebook and LinkedIn for recruitment and selection. “Deploying professional content and monitoring and adjusting it daily contributes to lead generation, and therefore to finding the perfect franchisee for our client.”
The recruiters at Koelewijn & Partners have for some time been working successfully with Dutch franchise organisations such as Simon Lévelt, Yarden, HouseHunting, Kickboxing-Institute and Broodje Ben. In addition, we collaborate with international organisations such as Profel Kozijnen & Deuren, German Doner Kebab and Fafa’s on recruiting and selecting (master) franchisees for the Dutch market.
Want to know more about any of these franchise formulas or how we can help you as a franchisor with tailored franchise recruitment? Get in touch with the Recruitment Consultants at Koelewijn & Partners on +31 35 548 5945.