How important is pre-entry education for franchisees?

Sarah Stowe

Education research and consulting firm, Corven, has conducted a study to determine the effectiveness of pre-entry education for potential franchisees, and it found that more work needs to be done.

The temptation to dumb down franchise education is evident and there is a misdirected notion that there is only a certain amount of knowledge that franchisees need to learn, said Julia Camm, franchise education specialist.

Our study clearly shows that franchisees are encouraged to take up education to ensure they armour and protect themselves before entering a franchise … but they are not learning everything they need to make a highly informed

decision.

About the study

Corven 2011 Insight Program research, Placebo or Panacea: Is franchisee pr-entry education the panacea for greater informed decision-making or is it a placebo, with no accountable learning outcomes? discovered that pre-entry franchise

education is important but it is one part of the total solution for greater informed decision making by prospective franchisees.

Of the 1197 study participants, 1106 were prospective franchisees and visitors to the Australian Franchising and Business Opportunities Expo.

Key findings include:

  • Effective due diligence on a franchise opportunity relies upon the extent of pre-entry franchise education a prospective franchisee completes;
  • An effective pre-entry education program would have a recommended purpose, evidence of achievement for the prospective franchisee, structure and key content clusters
  • 71.3 percent of study respondents said that the completion of pre-entry education should be a mandatory requirement before entering into a Franchise Agreement

Pre-entry education should be focused on gaining knowledge of franchising and business obligations and operations — not to learn about a specific franchise system, Camm said.

Where should prospective franchisees go?

Based on a comparison between the study’s key findings and programs currently on offer, the Asia-Pacific Centre for Franchising Excellence’s pre-entry franchise program best matches the recommendations, Camm said.

title