What do you do when you realise you have a great opportunity to franchise your business, but have an unsuitable name and logo? Or when youwant to franchise but need to make substantial changes to your business image? It’s a position that many business owners can find themselves in, and knowing what to do can be a little overwhelming. Here are a few suggestions to help guide you through the process of deciding if a re-brand is in order before you launch your franchise.
Re-branding is a significant undertaking, but in a dynamic marketplace, it is essential for brands to be recognisable. When companies are considering a re-brand, it is often because there are identified problems that need to be solved.
In the case of franchising a business, the critical issue might be that your branding is just not suitable to be rolled out across the different marketplaces in which your franchises will eventually be operating.
Re-branding essentially means overhauling your business image. And while it is about appearances, it is also important to put some thought into your brand message. Once you have decided on the image you want your business to project, you can start working on taglines, designs, colours and fonts for all your marketing collateral, from your website to brochures and business cards.
It’s important to set a budget at the start of the process. Seeking rebranding expertise makes sense too as you’ll want the process to be thorough, and to make sure your new branding hits the mark when it comes to representing your business and appealing to the right customers.
It’s also important to be aware of how any re-branding changes might affect both existing and potential customers. Many businesses seek the opinions of their customers at this stage in the form of market research.
It’s also worth remembering that you’ll need to keep some money in the budget for marketing at the roll out of your new branding. Marketing is key to getting customers to see any changes as positive, and to begin building on the brand recognition.
When deciding whether or not to re-brand before franchising your business, the best first step is to get some expert advice. There are many factors involved in starting a franchise, so it makes sense to get the ‘good oil’ on everything from re-branding to the finer points of documenting your business systems from people who really understand the process.
Seeking the expert assistance of a franchise consultant can ultimately get you on the path to expansion much quicker and with a lot less stress!
