Setting up a franchise: plan your first opening

A company-owned outlet may have taken shape through improvised solutions that the founder handled personally. When franchising, that experience needs to become a set-up process someone else can follow. In franchising, a well-prepared opening starts before the sale: it requires a sequence of tasks, clear responsibilities and objective criteria for approving the opening. The challenge is not to promise a date, but to show how you will get there.

1. Turn the opening into a sequence of deliverables

Before offering your first franchise, retrace how the existing operation was set up. Review equipment orders, plans, building work records and recruitment dates. Identify what took longer than expected, which tasks had to be redone and which solutions relied on the founder’s personal contacts.

This review should produce a map of dependencies. Installing a piece of equipment, for example, may require electrical upgrades first. Practical training may depend on systems being configured and supplies being available. Treating everything as independent tasks creates a timetable that looks short but is impossible to meet.

Organise the set-up process around verifiable deliverables:

• Preparation: define the outlet format and identify the conditions needed to set it up.
• Design: specify the premises, equipment and required alterations.
• Implementation: carry out building work, purchasing, installations and system configuration.
• Operational readiness: ensure staff are available, stock has arrived and testing is complete.
• Sign-off: check the evidence required to approve the opening.

For each deliverable, record the preceding task on which it depends. Distinguish the time needed to do the work from time spent waiting for third parties. A quick installation may depend on equipment with a long delivery lead time.

Avoid turning the shortest timeframe you have ever achieved into a sales promise. Use actual experience as your reference and record the conditions that could change the forecast.

2. Assign responsibilities and establish rules for changes

A spreadsheet of dates will not keep the set-up process on track if nobody knows who makes the decisions. Each task should have someone responsible for carrying it out, an approver where necessary and evidence of completion.

For example: the franchisee commissions the installation; the contractor carries it out; the franchisor checks compliance with its specifications; and the appropriately qualified professional takes responsibility for the technical checks within their remit. The brand’s checks do not replace technical responsibility or approval from the relevant public authorities.

Create a simple record for each deliverable with five fields: person responsible, target date, dependency, supporting evidence and current status. Add a column for unforeseen costs and another for any decision required.

Also establish how changes will be handled. If a piece of equipment becomes unavailable, who assesses the replacement? If the design changes, who checks the impact on capacity, investment and timing? These answers need to be in place before an urgent issue arises.

Hold short meetings during the set-up process and record decisions. The aim is not to add layers of oversight, but to prevent a known issue from remaining unassigned until the eve of opening.

3. Align the timetable with the franchise offer and legal documents

In Brazil, Law No. 13,966/2019 governs business franchising. Article 2 requires the Franchise Disclosure Document, known locally as the Circular de Oferta de Franquia (COF), to be provided in Portuguese with clear, accessible information. This includes the estimated initial investment and estimated costs of fitting out the premises, equipment and opening stock, together with payment terms.

This requires consistency between the planned set-up process and the offer presented. If the project depends on particular infrastructure, its cost should not disappear from the estimate simply because the franchisee will commission it directly. Assumptions and variable items need to be clear.

The COF must be provided at least ten days before the franchise agreement or preliminary agreement is signed, or before any fee is paid to the franchisor or a person or company associated with it. The sales timetable must not override this period to meet an advertised opening date.

With legal advice, align the COF, agreement and sales materials on set-up responsibilities, conditions for starting operations and how delays will be handled. Do not present an estimate that depends on building work and third parties as a guaranteed deadline.

Also distinguish legal obligations from internal rules: an opening check introduced by the franchisor is a contractual and operational control, not a licence required under Brazil’s Franchise Law.

4. Set criteria for opening or postponing

The desired date should not be the only criterion for opening. Before selling the first franchise, define which conditions would prevent it from opening and which outstanding issues can be resolved afterwards without compromising safety, legal compliance or service to customers.

Test a complete operating cycle: taking an order, processing payment, producing the product or providing the service, delivery and handling a problem. Check equipment, system access and the availability of essential materials.

Record the results, the problems identified and who is responsible for correcting them. An unsatisfactory trial run should trigger another check, not merely a signature of approval.

After opening, compare planned timings and expenditure with actual results. Update the set-up guide before applying it to the next outlet, distinguishing local difficulties from recurring process failures.

In practice: before marketing the franchise, prepare a timetable with dependencies, responsibilities and sign-off criteria. Only announce the opening when there is evidence that the outlet can operate, not simply that the building work is finished.