Merlin, franchising is possible, but you need to recognize it is a completely different business from the one you re in. Sure, you ll still be in the coffee world, but more importantly you ll be in the franchise-sales and servicing business. That takes a significant shift in mindset since it s a sales job instead of a coffee roasting or customer service one. Not to mention, you ll be entering the business-to-business arena rather than the consumer business. Of course, costs are a major issue too. You should expect to spend more than $100,000 creating and marketing your franchise concept, capital you won t have available for your own stores. None of that means that franchising is a no-go, of course. I just want you to understand that franchising your concept is quite different from deciding to add more stores or sell your beans elsewhere. Recognize that this is a huge decision and one you could avoid by continuing to expand your own store model into additional outlets in your city or into others.For more on this issue, I recommend reading Mark Siebert s very smart piece on Entrepreneur.com in which he runs through 10 items in the decision tree, ranging from business concept to entrepreneurial personality. http://www.entrepreneur.com/franchises/f��
lots of expense and red tape involved with franchising a business and this economy is not a good time to try doing that - keep going as you are, save as much money as possible and if things are still going good in a couple of years after the economy recovers - rethink it then - maybe open a 3rd store sometime in the next 2 yrs first
