Initial training: how to prepare your business for franchising

A business run well by its founder is not necessarily ready to be taught to someone else. Before franchising, you need to turn experience into measurable learning. In franchising, initial training should prepare franchisees to run the operation independently and recognise when they need to seek guidance. The aim is not to explain everything about the company, but to demonstrate that participants can carry out essential activities.

1. Define what participants need to be able to do

Start with the tasks that affect safety, quality, the customer experience and operational control. Avoid building the programme simply around the chapters of your manual: a document can serve as a reference, whereas training requires demonstration, practice and assessment.

For each role, write down observable outcomes. “Understand customer service” is vague. “Receive an order, check its details, enter it into the system and pass it on correctly” gives you a way to assess learning.

Create a simple matrix with four fields:

• Participant: franchisee, manager or team member.
• Competency: the activity they must be able to carry out.
• Evidence: the practical task that will demonstrate proficiency.
• Criterion: the objective standard for acceptable performance.

Separate the owner's responsibilities from operational tasks. Franchisees may need to interpret reports, organise rotas and monitor losses, even if they do not personally handle every customer interaction.

Also identify any prerequisite knowledge. If the programme assumes familiarity with spreadsheets or management systems, make this clear in advance. A gap in basic skills should not come as a surprise on the eve of opening.

2. Build a learning sequence that includes practice

Divide the content into three stages: preparation, supervised practice and assessment. During preparation, introduce concepts, terminology, products and safety guidance. Reserve in-person sessions or live online meetings for questions, demonstrations and exercises that require supervision.

For practical work, use situations that reflect day-to-day operations. Rather than demonstrating only a trouble-free sale, simulate an incomplete customer record, an unavailable product, a complaint and a discrepancy when cashing up. Participants should learn both the standard procedure and the limits of their authority.

A useful sequence for each activity is:

1. The trainer demonstrates the task and explains the critical points.
2. The participant carries it out with guidance.
3. The participant repeats it without intervention.
4. The trainer records the result and provides specific feedback.

Decide who will teach each topic and prepare stand-in trainers. If only the founder can deliver the sessions, expansion will remain dependent on their availability. Skilled operators also need to learn how to demonstrate tasks, spot mistakes and explain corrections without simply taking over the learner's work.

Set group sizes according to the equipment available and your ability to supervise each person. The duration should reflect the complexity of the competencies being taught, rather than a commercial package selected before the needs are understood.

3. Set criteria for completing the training

Attendance does not prove competence. Combine questions about decision-making with practical demonstrations and simulations. A written test can check knowledge, but it cannot replace performing a critical task.

Create an assessment form based on observable behaviours. When cashing up, for example, assess whether participants check records, identify discrepancies and follow the reporting procedure. Avoid subjective criteria such as “being the right fit for the brand”.

Distinguish between mistakes that can be corrected during routine work and those that prevent safe performance. For each gap, specify further training, a reassessment and the person responsible for follow-up. Explain the reassessment rules in advance, along with the effect that failing an assessment may have on the opening schedule.

Keep records of participants, content delivered, exercises, results and outstanding issues. These records help demonstrate what was provided and improve the programme, but should not be presented as a guarantee of profitability or error-free operations in future.

Before offering the training to your first franchisees, ask someone unfamiliar with your methods to work through the activities. Use their questions to refine explanations and exercises, without confusing this review of the training with validation of the business's financial viability.

4. Align the training, disclosure document and contract

In Brazil, Law No. 13,966/2019, known as the Franchise Law, requires the Franchise Disclosure Document (Circular de Oferta de Franquia, or COF) to set out the training offered to franchisees and their employees, specifying its duration, content and costs. This requirement appears in Article 2, item XIII, subparagraph “d”.

Clearly describe who may attend, where the activities will take place and which expenses are included. Clarify who is responsible for travel, accommodation, meals and any additional training sessions. Avoid advertising “comprehensive training” without defining what will be provided.

The COF must be given to prospective franchisees at least ten days before they sign a contract or preliminary agreement, or pay any fee to the franchisor or to a person or company connected with it. Do not collect training fees early to circumvent this waiting period.

Have the terms covering participation, assessment and any postponement of opening reviewed by a legal adviser, ensuring consistency between the offer, the COF and the contract.

Putting it into practice: choose one critical role, define three observable competencies and prepare the corresponding exercises. Expand the programme only once you can clearly teach, assess and document these outcomes.