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Help franchise candidates prepare for finance: a franchisor checklist

Help franchise candidates prepare for finance with clear costs, evidence and a timely referral. A practical checklist for franchisors and recruitment teams.

Reading time 4 min read
Category Business guides
Written by The bizbritain team
To help franchise candidates prepare for finance, explain the full investment early, separate facts from forecasts and discuss funding before anyone commits. Give each candidate a clear list of next steps and an agreed route to a finance conversation. You, the candidate and the lender each make a different decision.
This checklist is for franchisors, recruitment teams and network development managers. It covers when to raise funding, what to give candidates and how to hand over without promising an outcome.

Section 01

When should a franchisor discuss finance with a candidate?

Early, and then again as things firm up. A candidate who finds a funding gap after a discovery day has lost time, and so have you.
Raise it in the first proper conversation, at a high level. Come back to it once the territory, the costs and the timing are clearer.
Keep three things apart.
  • Willingness to invest: The candidate wants to go ahead and expects to put money in.
  • Money available now: Savings or other funds they can actually show.
  • A workable funding plan: How the full investment will be paid for, including any borrowing.
A recruitment conversation is not a credit assessment. Your job is to spot a gap early, not to judge whether a lender will say yes.

Section 02

What funding information should a franchisor provide?

Candidates build their plans from what you give them. The clearer it is, the stronger their application can be.

  1. The full investment

    The franchise fee and what it includes, plus fit-out, equipment, launch costs and working capital.

  2. What is not included

    Costs the candidate must find separately, such as premises, a vehicle or professional fees.

  3. Ongoing charges

    Royalties, marketing contributions and any minimum fees, and how each one is worked out.

  4. Timing

    When each payment is due, from signing the agreement to opening.

  5. The evidence behind your forecasts

    Which units the figures come from, how long they have traded and which numbers are assumptions.

The British Franchise Association encourages prospective franchisees to ask whether projections are based on actual performance within the network. Expect that question and answer it plainly.
Who writes the candidate's business plan? The candidate does. You supply the facts about the model. They show how it will work in their territory, with their costs and their experience.

Section 03

Help franchise candidates prepare for finance with a clear referral

A funding conversation goes better when everyone knows their part. Write it down.
  • Your recruitment team: Explains the opportunity, the costs and the selection process. It decides whether the candidate is right for the network.
  • The candidate: Supplies their own information, contribution and plan. They decide whether to go ahead.
  • The finance adviser: Explains the funding options and helps the candidate prepare an application.
  • The lender: Assesses the application and makes the lending decision.
Agree the handover point in advance. A sensible point is once you want to progress a candidate and they want to go ahead, subject to funding.
Hand over only with the candidate's permission. Tell them who will contact them and what happens next. A named next step keeps things moving.

Section 04

Does franchisor approval mean finance is approved?

No, and candidates need to hear that clearly. Your approval means you want them in the network. The lender makes its own decision on the funding.
It helps to map the stages so nobody mistakes one for another.

  1. Initial discussion

    You outline the investment and check the candidate has thought about funding.

  2. Cost and evidence pack

    You share the investment breakdown and the basis for your figures.

  3. The candidate's plan

    The candidate builds their own plan and forecast for their territory.

  4. Agreed referral

    With their permission, the candidate is introduced to a finance adviser at the agreed point.

  5. Decisions and next steps

    The lender decides on the funding. You and the candidate decide whether to sign.

These stages are a suggested way of working. Adapt them to your own process.
Can a finance partner guarantee funding for your candidates? No. Nobody can promise approval in advance. What a good partner can do is help candidates prepare and find options that may fit.
Do not ask a candidate to sign or pay because a first funding conversation went well. Wait until their funding position is clear.
The same care applies to recruitment advertising. Do not overstate likely earnings, the support on offer or the chance of getting finance.
If you want a clearer funding route for prospective franchisees, look at our finance support for your franchise candidates. Tell us about your network and how you recruit.

This guide is general information, not financial advice. Applications are subject to status, affordability and lender criteria.

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