Given that there are tens of thousands of franchise systems in existence globally, it is no wonder that investors and franchisors use professional franchise brokers and franchise consultants to help them weave through a myriad of franchise brands or investors. Over the years, we have seen these two terms being interchanged with ease and regularity by our clients and investors. While they may at first glance appear to have the same meaning, they are in fact quite different.

Differences Between a Franchise Broker and a Franchise Consultant

What is a Franchise Broker?

A franchise broker represents various franchisors that wish to find qualified franchisees for their territory, whether it is by neighborhood, city, region, and sometimes, the entire country. The franchisors are the broker’s clients. If franchise brokers are competent, then they are employing a myriad of sales and marketing initiatives that include a strong mix of offline and online activities.

Offline activities may include organizing franchise business matching events, franchise discovery days, franchise roadshows, franchise trade missions, exhibiting and participating in franchise shows, etc. Depending on the region and country of interest, extensive traveling by a regionally based franchise broker is crucial for timely success.

These offline activities are then supplemented with a multitude of digital marketing tools. While the array of tools to choose from are many, successful franchise brokers employ them all as these tools work together to ensure maximum reach towards targeted investors and franchisees.

For example, our company, VF Franchise Consulting, employs a suite of franchise sales and marketing tools that produces timely results for our franchisor clients, including and not limited to the below:

• Organizing In-Person International Franchise Business Matching events in Asia
• Exhibiting at select franchise shows in Asia
• Organizing client specific webinars, oftentimes in the format of a Discovery Day or a series of in-depth client interviews
• Participation in industry related webinars (e.g., virtual franchise shows, industry conferences)
• Aggressive social media marketing of our clients that utilizes both organic and paid ads
• Targeted email campaigns to tens of thousands of known investors and franchisees
• Continuing investments into SEO for all digital platforms, including developing strong keywords pertaining to each of our clients
• Video and written blogs focusing on our clients and the relevant franchise sectors
• Translations of franchise sales and marketing materials into the local language
• Developing a strong network of franchise partners throughout Asia

What is a Franchise Consultant?

A franchise consultant is a fee service provider and provides the service to whomever pays them. You may need a franchise consultant if you need help in business planning, performing feasibility studies, market entry and competitor research, operations audits, developing operations manuals, etc. The list of services is virtually endless, and clients may include someone who wants to buy or sell a franchise or someone who wants to make their business franchisable.

At VF Franchise Consulting, we provide both franchise brokerage and franchise consulting services. We believe this makes it easier for our clients to receive comprehensives services when it comes to franchising and licensing in Asia.

There are no rights and wrongs when it comes to either hiring a franchise consultant or a franchise broker as it depends on your organization’s specific needs. Just be sure that you are working with a well-known, proven, and professional franchise broker and consultant that has a successful track record. Some companies love to brag about what they can do, but the bottom-line is a successful track record is proof in the pudding!

Author:
Sean T. Ngo is the CEO and Co-Founder of one of Asia’s leading franchise consultancy, VF Franchise Consulting. He is Vietnamese American and has been living in Vietnam for over 15 years. You can reach him at sean@vffranchiseconsulting.com.