5 Things to Consider When Selecting a Brand to Franchise

Before diving headfirst into franchising, consider these five important points when selecting which brand to franchise.

2025 is poised to be a landmark year for franchising, with the Philippine Franchise Association (PFA) anticipating that the country will enter the ‘golden age of franchising’ this year. For aspiring franchisees, the abundance of options in both the food and non-food categories can make choosing the right one a challenge.

Many factors contribute to this all-important decision, and it’s crucial for aspiring franchisees to have a clear idea of what they’re looking for in the brand they want to franchise.

To help aspiring franchisees out, The Business Manual spoke to Matt Matel, who has had years-long experience as a franchisee, for his insights and tips on selecting the right brand. His current franchises include Lots’a Pizza and Kowloon House. He is likewise one of the partners behind Godfather Shoes.

Why Are You Franchising?

Before even selecting a brand to franchise, it is important for aspiring franchisees to be clear with their reasons for wanting to franchise at the onset. Franchising is not an easy task and comes with a lot of risks, and entering it without a real goal or motivation can become a problem later on.

For Matel, his love for food encouraged him to explore business opportunities related to it, but he was also aware that it was not an option for him to start a business from scratch, which led him to explore franchising.

“I love to eat and had a palate for it (I used to be a food blogger/writer), but I didn’t know how to cook well enough to start my own groundbreaking concept,” Matel said.

“One thing I did know being a corporate executive for two decades now is how to break down a business,” Matel pointed out, adding that he “had a knack for finding great prospects and managing them well.”

5 Things to Consider When Selecting a Brand

When selecting a brand or business to franchise, Matel highlighted five key factors that aspiring franchisees should consider before making their decision.

1. Brand Awareness and Brand Equity

For him, brand awareness and brand equity are two of the “most important things in helping one person to choose a business to franchise.”

These two are not the same as brand awareness refers to how familiar customers are with a brand. Brand equity, on the other hand, refers to the overall value of a particular brand and factors in customer loyalty, trust, and their willingness to pay a premium for its product or service.

“It’s very difficult to sell something that you didn’t create yourself and that has no value,” said Matel. “We learned this when we started doing franchising. At times, it’s the end all and be all of it.”

He added, “Aside from brand awareness and equity, our personal positive experience of the brand helped us greatly in choosing a brand to partner with. We’ve had very fond and positive experiences growing up with the brands we have chosen.”

2. Being a Fan or Avid Customer of the Brand

For the 20-year executive, it’s important to be a fan or even just a loyal customer of the brand you want to franchise. For example, an aspiring franchisee who wants to franchise a coffee shop should actually love the brand’s coffee and be a coffee fan to begin with.

“You have to believe in your brand and understand how you can sell it and how to improve it and make it better,” he pointed out. “I have been an avid customer of all brands I partnered with even before deciding to work with them.”

3. What the Franchising Package Includes

When choosing a brand, it’s not enough that it is well-known and its products or services are popular. At the end of the day, franchising is still a business deal, and it’s important to take a closer look at the package a brand offers to its franchisees.

Here are things that franchisees should look for in a package, according to Matel:

Brand Equity
Vision of the franchisor of the brand
Sustainable product supply chain and quality
Collaborative franchise system

4. Red Flags

It goes without saying that not all franchising deals are a bang-for-your-buck deal. It also goes without saying that not all brands out there are ideal to work with. Because of these, it is important for aspiring franchisees to spot red flags early on, before starting any business transaction.

According to Matel, one red flag that franchisees should watch out for is when the vision of the founder is just to make money and not create a great product or brand.

“This often happens when they use the franchise system to promote their own multilevel marketing (MLM)scheme, which really aims to earn money using MLM and not through the promotion and development of an exceptional product,” he explained.

Another red flag, for him, is when a “product doesn’t have a unique selling proposition or market positioning and is ripe for disruption.”

Aside from this, when a franchisor is not collaborative and doesn’t help their franchisees succeed, this can also be counted as a red flag.

5. ROI

One of the key metrics that franchisees look for, given the huge amount of money franchises typically require, is the return on investment (ROI).

“It really depends on what business you are in,” said Matel. “Some have quick ROIs, some a little slower than normal. But what’s important is that you know what your target ROI date is and that you are willing to invest in it.”

Being Prepared is Key

Regardless of what kind of business or how popular the brand is, aspiring franchisees should first and foremost be prepared for what comes with franchising. As mentioned earlier, there are a lot of risks that come with franchising, and there is always a chance that a franchise may fail. These are just some of the things that a franchisee should be prepared for.

“Be prepared emotionally, financially, and professionally,” Matel reminded. “Do your research and know what your goals are in franchising ahead of time.”

Despite the risks, the reward is great when things go right. According to Matel, “It’s a big commitment but can be very rewarding if done right with the right partner.”