Bill Hunt International Franchise Expert Shares Mistakes Businesses Make When Going Global

Published on October 3, 2014

25-year industry veteran Bill Hunt discusses the major mistakes and solutions for companies looking to globally expand their franchise during an exclusive interview with Small Business Trendsetters.

Drawing from his experience and in-depth knowledge of international franchise sales as a past president of Century 21 China and currently as a Keller Williams Worldwide Consultant, Hunt expounds on the intricacies of successful western companies doing business among different cultures and lifestyles. Recognizing the challenges foreign franchisors face, Hunt explains how North American companies fail to realize they have to adapt to a new business model based on these significant differences.

“Their western franchise concept of “brand in a box” needs to be adapted and modified, and localized to fit into an entirely different social and business culture,” says Hunt. “That doesn’t necessarily translate to the economics and cultures in other countries where the cost of living and disposable income is dramatically lower and social customs are vastly different from ours.”

Hunt recommends recruiting the most qualified leaders and support executives from the originating country to provide thorough leadership and experience in expanding the franchise operations based on a proven business model. “Entrepreneurial leaders must resist the temptation to change the core elements of the new franchise.”

According to Hunt, some common pitfalls of companies looking to internationally franchise are not having adequate investment capital, not having necessary management skills and not having ongoing support in place for the new foreign partner.

“The most successful master franchisors will have onsite support on a regular basis. They need individuals who have been successful because of their hard drive and determination to succeed at all costs. Some will provide a consultant from the corporate headquarters to live onsite for the first four to six months or a year, to make sure that they adapt and localize the key ingredients: the key business models for that country,” says Hunt.

Hunt draws from his experiences in the franchise industry to recall examples of companies that have been successful. He cites Starbucks, Subway and the Century 21 master franchise in Venezuela as franchises that had all the elements in place: the right team, intelligence and ability, market knowledge, strong support from the corporate office and total accountability to stay on track.

In offering key advice, Hunt stresses the importance in having a detailed blueprint in place and the value of retaining a good franchise consultant. There must be “A roadmap step-by-step with each individual activity and person that was responsible for each activity, with the time frame to complete it,” he says, and “A good franchise consultant knows that the franchise sale is just the beginning. That it’s the ongoing support that is vital to create an army of happy franchisees in their country that’s going to result in success. Good franchise consultants will have that experience from helping find the right franchise partners in a country, to helping them launch it, and then helping them maintain a healthy and growing base of franchisees within the country.”

To read the transcript of the interview at: http://smallbusinesstrendsetters.com/bill-hunt-major-mistakes-franchisors-make-when-taking-their-business-global/

For more information on his Amazon best-selling book titled “Insights from a Franchise Insider,” visit his website at www.billhuntworldwide.com

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