Building Your Business Plan – A Roadmap for New Franchise Owners
“Every big success is the result of thousands of small, consistent actions”. - Richard Branson
Opening a franchise is more than launching a business — you’re investing in a proven concept, an established brand, and a support system designed to set you up for success. But even with all those advantages, your franchise journey starts with one essential tool: a strong business plan – it’s the foundation of your success.
Whether you’re opening your first location or planning your next, a solid, well‑structured business plan helps you define your vision, secure finance, understand your local market, and stay focused through the critical first year of operations.
Here’s how to build a business plan that sets your franchise up for growth from day one.
1. START WITH YOUR WHY – YOUR PERSONAL PURPOSE
Before stepping into franchise ownership, one of the most important steps you can take is to understand your personal Why—the deeper purpose, belief, or motivation that drives you. It represents the deeper reason you get out of bed each day, the cause that gives your actions meaning beyond goals and achievements. Simon Sinek’s “Golden Circle” framework explains that truly inspired individuals start by defining their “Why” before focusing on how they work (the values or methods that bring purpose to life) or what they do – the tangible products or services they deliver. Your Why represents the core belief that fuels your ambition, shapes your decisions, and guides how you lead and serve others. Purpose driven messages resonate with the emotional parts of the brain that drive behaviour. By starting with why, you can inspire trust, cooperation and loyalty, ultimately differentiating yourself in a meaningful and lasting way.
The Golden Circle framework shows that while anyone can describe what they do and how they do it, very few can clearly articulate why they do it—yet this is the single factor that inspires commitment, trust, and meaningful action.
For prospective franchisees, knowing your Why helps you align your goals with the realities of business ownership, choose a franchise model that truly fits your values, and build a long‑term, purpose‑driven path to success. When you start with Why, your decisions become clearer, your motivation becomes stronger, and your leadership becomes more authentic, setting the foundation for a thriving and resilient franchise journey.
Every successful plan begins with clarity
Every great business is built on passion and purpose
Ask yourself:
· What is your personal purpose, belief or driving motivation to own a franchise?
· What inspired you to choose this franchise?
· Your business goals
· What experience do you want your customers to have?
· What makes this brand special in your community?
· Why this market?
· Why now?
· What experience and personal strengths do you bring to the business (operations, customer service, leadership, marketing)?
· What success looks like for your first 12 months?
Your “Why” becomes the heartbeat of your business plan, it will anchor your direction and help lenders, investors, franchisors, landlords and your future team understand your motivation and commitment
This becomes the foundation of your franchise journey.
2. UNDERSTAND YOUR LOCAL MARKET
Even the best franchise brands succeed, or struggle based on location. Location and customer behaviour are everything.
Your business plan should demonstrate a strong understanding of:
Who your customers are – the demographics in your area (families, workers, students, travellers)
The size of your local market
Your competitors and their price points
Trends affecting your category e.g., health, convenience, premiumisation, sustainability)
Surrounding precinct influences: offices, schools, transport hubs, shopping centres, Local events, foot traffic and precinct behaviour
Your franchisor will provide location and/or national insights, but your business plan should demonstrate that you know your neighbourhood better than anyone else.
3. DEFINE YOUR GOALS AND GROWTH PLAN
Think of your business plan as your roadmap. Clear goals help you to shape decisions, direction and keep your team aligned. Set clear, measurable objectives, such as:
First‑year revenue targets
Weekly average transaction value
Daily foot traffic goals
Product, Service and Labour cost factors
Customer loyalty programs, enrolments
Local marketing, brand awareness and KPI targets
Staffing and training milestones
These targets help you track progress and adjust quickly during busy and quiet periods.
4. BUILD A STRONG OPERATIONAL PLAN
Franchises thrive on consistency, speed and quality. Your business plan should outline how you’ll deliver these customer desirables and expectations every day.
Your business plan should demonstrate that you understand the systems that drive your chosen brand.
Include:
Daily operations and service standards
Staff structures and role responsibilities
Training schedules
Inventory management and supply chain processes
Technology and POS systems, delivery integration
Health, safety, and compliance commitments
A good operational plan shows you understand the brand and reassures stakeholders you can deliver the brand as intended — even in peak times.
5. MAP OUT YOUR MARKETING & LAUNCH STRATEGY
A strong opening is everything! The opening marketing and launch strategy are essential to get right, because it builds early awareness, drives immediate foot traffic and sets the foundation for long term customer loyalty and business growth. The first 90 days are critical and often determine your long-term repeat customer base Even with national brand marketing campaigns in place, local area marketing is one of the biggest drivers of franchise success.
Your plan should include:
Grand opening strategy –giveaways, influencers, community events
First 90‑day marketing calendar
Local partnerships (schools, gyms, offices, clubs)
Social media rollout - Brand storytelling and teasers
Loyalty program push
Seasonal promotions
Community engagement
Delivery platform setup and optimisation (where applicable)
Paid advertising plans (social, Google, geo‑targeted ads)
This demonstrates a clear understanding of demand generation and the ability to launch with impact, ensuring strong, early momentum and sustained growth.
6. DEVELOP YOUR FINANCIAL PLAN
The financial section is critical for investors, lenders, franchisors and landlords. This section will likely be the most closely reviewed part of your business plan.
Make sure you outline:
Start‑up costs
Initial franchise fees and training costs
Fit out and equipment costs
Initial stock and packaging
Working capital
Ongoing royalties and marketing levies
Monthly operating expenses
Sales forecasts
Labour cost modelling
Break‑even analysis
Cash flow projections
Funding sources
Marketing launch budget
Accurate financial planning demonstrates you understand the realities of running a franchise business, peak vs quiet periods, seasonal variations, and cost control.
Lenders and investors want to know you’re realistic, informed, and backed by a recognised franchise system
7. SHOWCASE THE FRANCHISOR SUPPORT BEHIND YOU
One of the biggest strengths of joining a franchise is the built-in support structure – you’re in business for yourself, but not by yourself.
One of the biggest advantages of franchising is that you’re not building alone – you have a proven system to follow, established support and an experienced operational team guiding every step.
Use a section of your plan to highlight the franchisor’s support system and reinforce:
Training and ongoing coaching/support
Operations support
National Marketing and brand campaigns and resources
Innovation, Technology, reporting and compliance systems
Supply Chain and National buying power
Brand reputation
On the ground opening week support
This shows that your business isn’t just a start up, it’s part of a strong, reputable and compliant business model with an established system, proven outcomes and consistent results.
8. DOCUMENT AND INTERPRET YOUR FINDINGS
Once you’ve gathered all your research, the next step is to organize and interpret the collateral, so it becomes actionable. This will eventually become part of your strategic plan.
9. COMPILE YOUR DATA
Bring together all the information you’ve collected:
Market demographics and opportunities
Competitor analysis
Location feasibility reports
Financial projections
Customer feedback from surveys or interviews
Compile your research into a concise report, using clear visuals like charts, graphs, and tables to make complex data easy to understand. This document will be crucial for your business plan and investor discussions.
10. IDENTIFY KEY INSIGHTS
Look for patterns and trends:
Where is demand strongest?
Which customer segments show the most potential?
What gaps exist in the market that your franchise can fill?
Highlight both opportunities and challenges so you have a balanced view.
11. TRANSLATE INSIGHTS INTO ACTION
Turn your findings into practical steps:
Define your target audience and marketing approach.
Choose the most promising location(s).
Adjust your pricing or product offering based on competitor analysis
Prepare contingency plans for identified risks.
12. CREATE A PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS PLAN
Your report should include:
Executive Summary: A concise overview of your research and recommendations.
Company Overview: A snapshot of the franchise business – business name and legal structure, proposed location. Introduce the franchise brand you are joining; what is it known for, what are its mission and values and market positioning; and years in operation.
As a first-time franchisee, this is your opportunity to showcase why you’re the right fit. Include your professional experience, transferable skills, any relevant industry knowledge and motivation for buying the franchise.
A snapshot of your business – history, detailed list of products and services, physical location (if there is one), the problem your product/service addresses.
Industry Overview: Industry as a whole, relevant statistics, current trends, consumer demographics, external influences.
Detailed Analysis: Supporting data and insights. Marketing analysis. Industry barriers upon entry.
Sales and Marketing plan: How will you execute your strategies and reach your goals.
Business Team: Focuses on your business’s legal structure. Introduce your key team members, who owns what percentage of the company and each team’s involvement in the business’s day-to-day operations.
Operating Plan: Give insight into how your business will function on an ongoing basis and what daily operations look like.
Financials: Outlines how your business will generate revenue and profit and if necessary, how it will repay its loan or investors. Create monthly, annual and three to five year profit and loss projections and outline anticipated expenses.
Action Plan: Clear next steps for launching your franchise.
Appendix: Close your business plan with supporting documentation such as bank statements, employee bios, licenses, agreements and business credit history (if any).
This document will be essential for:
Securing financing or investor support.
Aligning your strategy.
Guiding your franchise launch and growth.
The plan doesn’t have to be “War and Peace”, it simply needs to reflect the key points referenced above and show that your proposed business venture addresses a need in the market.
FINAL THOUGHTS…
A franchise business plan isn’t just a document to be placed on the shelf and collect dust— it’s your roadmap to success. It gives you clarity, direction, and confidence as you build your business. Most importantly, it becomes the guide you return to as you grow, employ your team, and bring your chosen franchise brand to life, in your local community.
If you’re considering your first location, now is the perfect time to start shaping your vision. And remember — your franchisor is there to help every step of the way.
“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail”
Benjamin Franklin
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