Steve Hansen has been in the Australian franchising industry for 26 years and heads up franchise chain Chooks fresh & tasty. Here are his tips for finding the right franchise.

Franchising is all about systems so you must check your potential franchise group’s operational systems are in place. Manuals, checklists and everything that a franchisee needs must be available, systematised and written in the right sequence so you can run your franchise effectively.

Ensure the franchise system you’re thinking of signing up to is transparent and ethical. How do you find out if your franchisor is trustworthy and will do the right thing by you? Simply talk to their current franchisees. Usually you are supplied with contact details once youÍve reached the stage of signing the franchise agreement.

Your potential franchisor must have a vision for the future and know how to plan strategically otherwise where is the company headed? There should be a business plan in writing that you should ask to see.

Your franchisor must have the ability to change with the times. Ask for examples that show how the business has progressed.

The benefit of franchising is the support a franchisee receives from the franchisor and there must be infrastructure to do this. The franchisor must have ethical people in place in marketing, finance and other areas to advise what is best for franchisees and help provide franchisee support.

Good communication is crucial for the franchisee/franchisor relationship and there must be systems in place to do this. A franchisor should be communicating either through a field support manager or internal communication method at least once a week to keep franchisees informed about what going on within the franchise group.

A franchisor needs to have a good financial model in place which can be shared with franchisees. Most franchisors are too scared to do this but franchisees have the right to know how that area works and are able to go away and do the sums.

A franchisor needs to be able to communicate what the franchise is, what it does, what the term is and how it works in the long term so a potential franchisee is aware of all the terms and conditions.