Buying a franchise: calculate your staffing costs

An outlet may be affordable to set up but expensive to staff. Before joining a franchise network in Greece, you need to translate the proposed operating model into actual shifts, job roles and employment costs. The crucial question is not simply ‘How many people do I need?’ but ‘What does it cost to run the business properly every day, even when someone is absent?’.

1. Ask for a staffing plan, not a headcount

An assurance that ‘the outlet runs with a small team’ is not enough to assess a proposal. The same number of employees can cover different hours, perform different duties and provide a completely different level of service.

Ask the franchisor for an illustrative weekly rota for an outlet of a similar size and format. You need details of opening hours, tasks before opening and after closing, the roles required on each shift and any specialist skills needed. Distinguish routine operations from peak hours and seasonal requirements.

In particular, check:

• How many people must be on site at the same time?
• Does every shift need a store manager?
• Who handles deliveries, cleaning, administrative work and customer complaints?
• Are particular qualifications or certifications compulsory for certain roles?
• Which tasks does the owner perform in the franchisor’s model?

The last question often reveals a hidden assumption: the budget looks low because it includes many hours of unpaid work by the owner. To compare opportunities on a like-for-like basis, calculate the cost of paying someone else to do that work, even if you initially intend to do it yourself.

2. Convert shifts into the full cost of employment

Do not simply multiply a monthly salary by the number of positions. Ask an accountant or payroll specialist for an annual calculation based on the actual roles and proposed rota.

The calculation should cover gross pay, employer social security contributions, statutory festive bonuses and the annual leave allowance, as well as any legally required additional payments arising from the working hours. You also need to check for any applicable collective labour arrangements. A general cost multiplier used by another outlet with different employment arrangements is not enough.

Add recruitment, initial training and staff replacement costs separately. An employee undergoing training may be paid before they can cover a role independently. Similarly, an employee taking leave does not remove the need to cover their shift.

Prepare three scenarios: the initial trading period, a typical period and a period of higher staffing demand. For each, record the total working hours, the roles and skills required, and the total cost. This will show whether rising sales require an additional hire before they deliver a meaningful financial benefit.

3. Check who makes the decisions and who bears responsibility

Greece has no dedicated law providing a comprehensive framework for franchising, nor a specific statutory requirement to provide a standardised pre-contractual disclosure document. The general rules of the Greek Civil Code apply, among other provisions. During negotiations, Articles 197–198 address good faith and liability for damage caused through fault. Employment and social security legislation also apply when running the business.

The franchise agreement does not replace these obligations. If your business hires staff as their employer, the franchisor’s instructions do not relieve you of responsibility for lawful employment practices. A proposed shift rota needs independent review, not automatic implementation.

Read the agreement and relevant schedules for requirements concerning minimum staffing, compulsory specialist roles, approval of management staff and attendance at training. Clarify who pays wages, travel and accommodation when training takes place elsewhere.

For education businesses, such as private tutoring centres, also check the current requirements for teaching staff. The availability of suitably qualified people is a prerequisite for operating, not simply a matter of choosing between CVs.

4. Test the rota before committing

Where possible, speak to existing franchisees about staffing in practice. Ask for aggregate operational figures, without names, individual salaries or other employees’ personal data. Ask which roles are difficult to fill, how long new employees take to settle in and when extra help is needed.

Then test your own rota against common situations: a manager’s absence, an employee leaving, or a simultaneous increase in orders and incoming deliveries. Check whether you can provide lawful, financially viable cover without relying permanently on stopgap arrangements.

Before signing, bring together the network’s requirements, available staff hours, annual costs and outstanding issues in a single table. Request written clarification wherever requirements remain vague.

Practical takeaway: Assess staffing using realistic shifts and the full cost of employment. If the outlet can operate only by routinely exceeding planned hours or relying on work that has not been costed, the budget is not yet ready to support a purchase decision.