Human Resources
Picking the wrong franchisee costs more than losing the sale.
Franchisee selection, employment contracts and people systems built for a network rather than a single site.
The hardest decision a franchisor makes.
Someone arrives with the fee in hand and enthusiasm to spare. They’re likeable, they’ve always wanted their own business, and turning them down means turning down money you need.
Six months later they’re not following the system, not taking direction, and treating the operations manual as a set of suggestions. You can’t easily remove them — they’ve signed a ten-year agreement and invested their savings. So you manage the problem for years, it damages the brand locally, and every prospective franchisee who visits that site sees it.
A bad franchisee isn’t a bad sale. It’s a decade-long liability with your name over the door.
What we do
Franchisee profiling
A structured assessment of whether a candidate can follow a system, take direction and run a business — including handwriting analysis, which we’ve used in franchisee selection for years.
Selection process
A defined process with stages, criteria and a decision framework, so you’re not judging on gut feel in a single meeting with money on the table.
Employment contracts
Compliant contracts of employment for franchisee staff, drafted once for the network rather than improvised at each site.
Recruitment support
Role profiles, interview structures and selection criteria for store-level hiring, so a new franchisee isn’t recruiting blind.
Policies & procedures
Disciplinary codes, grievance procedures and workplace policies aligned to South African labour law and written into your operations manual.
Performance frameworks
How franchisee and staff performance is measured and managed — so a conversation about standards has evidence behind it rather than opinion.
How we work
Define the profile
What does a franchisee actually need to succeed in your business? Capital is the easy part. Temperament and willingness to follow a system are the rest.
Build the process
Application, interview, profiling, financial verification and reference checks — in a defined order, with criteria set before you meet anyone.
Assess candidates
We assess against the profile and give you a considered read — including the reservations. The decision stays yours.
Set up the people systems
Contracts, policies and performance frameworks handed to the new franchisee so they start compliant rather than fixing it later.
Saying no is part of the service.
A consultant paid on completed franchise sales has an obvious reason to encourage every candidate through the process. We think that’s the wrong incentive, and it’s how networks end up with sites they spend a decade regretting.
The candidates who worry us aren’t usually the unqualified ones — those are easy. It’s the successful independent operator who has run their own business their own way for fifteen years and now has to follow somebody else’s manual. Sometimes that works. Often it doesn’t, and it’s worth knowing which before they sign.
One franchisee turned down is cheaper than one franchisee removed.
What goes with it
HR work connects to your franchise agreement, your operations manual and your training programme.
Franchise Agreement ·
Franchise Documentation ·
Training ·
Franchise Readiness ·
See all services →
Choose the right people.
One free hour to talk through your selection process and where the risks in it sit.
Or call Robin directly on 082 451 1604