Franchising: planning openings without overstretching

When you turn an existing business into a franchise network, signing more contracts does not mean you are ready to open several locations at once. Each launch takes up the time of the people who know the business model best, often while they are still working in the original business. You therefore need a schedule based on the franchisor’s actual capacity, not just franchisees’ preferred dates. Here is how to put one together before making commitments that may be difficult to keep.

1. Assess how many openings you can realistically support

The first step is not to decide how many new locations to open, but to identify the resources needed to support one. List the activities that require the franchisor’s involvement: coordinating the fit-out, setting up systems, training staff, checking operational readiness and providing on-site support during the launch.

For each activity, record:

• the person responsible and any deputy;
• the working time required;
• the period in which it must be carried out;
• the other people or deliverables it depends on;
• the day-to-day commitments that cannot be put on hold.

Distinguish working time from waiting time. Setting up a system may require little internal work, yet still be held up while you wait for data or activation by an external provider. Equally, two short tasks may clash if they need the same person at the same time.

Use your experience of the existing business to make an initial estimate, without assuming it will automatically apply to a franchisee. Someone who has run an outlet for years knows processes that a new business owner still has to learn. After each opening, compare your estimates with the time actually spent.

2. Work backwards from the opening date, making dependencies explicit

Start with a provisional opening date and work backwards through the conditions needed to meet it. It is not enough to write “training completed” or “systems ready”: each stage needs an observable outcome and someone responsible for confirming it.

An operational sequence might include:

• defining contractual commitments and each party’s responsibilities;
• ensuring the inputs needed to organise the launch are available;
• completing essential system set-up and deliveries;
• jointly checking that the location is ready;
• opening, followed by a settling-in period.

Not every activity has to happen in sequence. Some can run in parallel, provided the dependencies are clear. For example, arranging a trial run of sales procedures before the systems are usable may simply mean having to schedule another session.

Build in contingency time too, with allowances based on the work involved. There is no single interval that suits every business model. The schedule should make uncertainty visible, not hide it behind a precise date.

3. Align the schedule with Italian contractual obligations

In Italy, franchising is governed by Law No. 129 of 6 May 2004, which requires franchise agreements to be in writing to be valid. The law also requires the franchisor to have tested its business model in the market before establishing the franchise network.

Planning must also respect the pre-contractual disclosure period: at least thirty days before signing, the franchisor must provide the prospective franchisee with a complete copy of the agreement and the annexes required by Article 4, subject to the exceptions set out in the legislation. This deadline relates to signing the agreement, not to a general countdown to opening day.

Avoid building a plan that assumes an immediate signature to make up for an organisational delay. Distinguish indicative dates from binding commitments, and ask your legal adviser to check how the schedule aligns with the services you have promised to provide.

Among the other details required by law, the agreement must specify the nature of the support and training services offered by the franchisor. The operational plan helps organise those commitments: it cannot unilaterally reduce them because too many openings have been scheduled. If the timetable changes, document the consequences and any agreements needed.

4. Decide when to confirm, postpone or space out launches

Before announcing a date publicly, arrange a formal review with the franchisee. Use a short checklist of essential conditions and classify anything outstanding: issues that prevent opening, problems that can be resolved before launch, and improvements that can wait without compromising service.

Assign an owner and a deadline to each issue that prevents opening. If an essential condition has not been met, consider postponing before public announcements and organisational commitments make doing so more costly, and check the contractual consequences as well.

Finally, consider the period after opening day. The first newly opened location may need urgent support just as the second is completing its preparations. Reserve capacity for this overlap and update the overall schedule, not just the timetable for the delayed location.

In practice: before confirming a new opening, check three things: essential conditions have been met, responsibilities are clear, and people will remain available after launch. A franchise network grows more sustainably when the pace of openings matches its capacity to support them.