How can suitable franchisees be more successfully recruited?

Abstract

A shortage of suitable franchisee applicants has been identified by franchisors as a major hindrance to franchise sector growth in Australia. However, there has been little investigation into this issue within the organisational choice literature. This represents an important gap in the literature. In order to explore this issue it was first necessary to determine the expectations of franchisors regarding suitable franchisee prospects. Hence, this research explores desirable franchisee attributes and the factors that influence franchisee recruitment, together with suggestions on how franchisors may improve promotion of themselves to potential franchisees. A convenience sample of 12 franchisors was selected for participation. Respondents were interviewed about their current recruitment practices and the qualities they sought in franchisees. Findings suggest that while there is a core set of generic franchisee attributes, franchisors also need to determine a sub-set of additional attributes that are consistent with their own system requirements.