Franchising Your Coaching Practice

“Ninety percent of coaching companies are about as saleable as a second-hand piece of chewing gum,” says Karl Bryan of Leader Global Consulting.

Bryan represents the other ten percent.

He has successfully franchised his business coaching company and operates in seven countries. What makes his business different?

“One of the things I provide is a Business Coaching Membership site that provides a recurring income stream and also something franchisees can sell,” he says.

Creating value for franchisees is critical to success, say the experts. Timothy Howes, the principal of Spyglass Strategies in Dartmouth, Mass., a firm that helps companies franchise their businesses, says that franchising a service-based business, like a coaching practice, presents some special challenges.

The threshold question is “Do you have something of value to sell?”

The Entrepreneur’s Source (TES), based in Southbury, Conn., clearly had something to sell. TES has more than 230 offices in the U.S. and Canada, and has been ranked 10th among all franchises on the RedHotFranchises.com 2010 “Hot 100 Franchise List.”

Brian Miller is president and COO for TES. Coaches considering franchising should first ask themselves: Is my business something that others can learn to operate for themselves? “Your business model should lend itself to being easily duplicatable in other locations,” he says.  And, he adds, the practice should have a significant competitive advantage over others.

Those that do it right, can do very well. You are essentially buying four things, says Bryan:

1. A database. This is “absolutely vital,” he says, and adds that the database should include not only clients, but people who have enrolled in seminars or signed up for free offerings like reports, teleseminars, webinars, etc.

2. Systems. Bryan has built a five-point coaching system where everything is systematized – lead generation, education, consultation (templated), follow-up to consultation (templated), tangible coaching program.

3. Products – videos, audios, live seminars, etc.

4. Reputation.

Alan Weiss, Ph.D., president of Summit Consulting Group, Inc., in East Greenwich, R.I., says: “My 15-year global Mentor Program has been licensed – franchised – over the past six months to over two dozen people and I’m aiming for 100 by 2015, so I’m ahead of schedule.”

Licensees become Master Mentors after training with me and paying $10,000 to $14,000.  Weiss’ advice: “Be very selective in whom you choose, don’t just go for the money – a bad rep will kill you.”

Howes suggests that those interested in expanding through franchising, consider the following factors:

• Differentiation. What makes your business unique?

• Trademarks. Can your business name be trademarked?

• Valuable, ongoing systems. Service-based franchises in particular, he says, need some valuable ongoing system – software, connections with clients, marketing efforts – that franchisees will find valuable.

• Concept development. Branding is critical, says Howes, because franchising is essentially a license of a trademark and its methods.

• ROI. The good news, says Howes, is that a coaching franchise should require a relatively low investment for franchisees.

Another critical consideration – leadership skills. “Without a doubt, lack of leadership skills is the number one reason for challenges in franchise systems,” says Howes.

That’s a critical points, agrees Tom Scarda, a franchise expert based in NYC. “If you love coaching, don’t franchise, because you will no longer coach. You will become the president of a sales and support company whose widget happens to be coaching.”