As an established franchise company working with many retail companies around the world, our application process is clear, concise and simple. Our strategy for building new markets and helping franchisees exploit the potential of Arcadia’s brands in their local territories has a proven and effective track record. What’s more, as a partner you’ll benefit from the expertise of our business development team who are on hand to guide you through the assessment stages.
Initial Enquiry
How we support you:
To help you with the application process, we provide you with a market analysis template which outlines what information we need from you in order to move the application process to the next stage. When we receive any franchise application we always begin a process of verifying its contents. This includes a check on who you are, what your current business is and which market you wish to operate in. This information does two things: it enables us to understand if you’re right for us and just as importantly, if we’re right for you.
What we ask of you:
As a standard part of the process, we ask you to sign and return a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) before progressing further with the application. In addition, we ask you to prepare a business development plan outline and a company profile presentation.
Market Assessment
How we support you:
On receipt of your business plan and company presentation, we review the information to make sure that our two companies are compatible. This includes making sure that your company is big enough and that it has the right structure to take our brands forward in your market. We also ensure that your development plan is sufficiently robust and not too ambitious.
To help you determine if a franchise partnership with Arcadia is right for you we provide you with a standard financial template which enables you to make business projections, taking into account overheads such as rent, labour and marketing costs to name a few.
This is a useful tool as it allows both you and us to establish whether the franchise application is a viable business plan.
At this stage we also formalise the NDA.
What we ask of you:
To continue with the application process, we also ask you to produce a more detailed development plan based on the information gathered from the financial template. Included in this business plan should be an analysis of your competitors’ pricing rates as this is vital in establishing whether a profit can be made, and therefore whether the franchise application is viable.
Business Plan
How we support you:
Once we receive your detailed business development plan and supporting documentation, we thoroughly review your market assessment. This is a sense check to further ensure the application is suitable for both parties. As a company, we then assimilate information provided and agree on commercial terms and a pricing strategy for the market, as a prelude to the official contract, which we then present back to you.
What we ask of you:
Once the pricing strategy and commercial terms have been agreed, you submit a full 5-year business plan outlining details such as intended market growth and sales plans.
Market evaluation
How we support you:
A senior member of Arcadia’s International Department visits the proposed market to check all of the business plan assumptions. This visit is also an opportunity to agree on sites and locations, as well as gain a better understanding of your market.
On completion of this visit the project is finalised for presentation to the Arcadia Board. We also provide you with a copy of the standard draft agreement.
What we ask of you:
At this stage we ask you to review the agreement and, if acceptable, begin approaching landlords for potential sites.
Contract Negotiation
How we support you:
As the application progresses, discussions on the final contract begin. Because it’s important that the interests of both sides are appropriately represented and all uncertainties addressed and reconciled, this process can take several weeks
What we ask of you:
Once the final contract has been agreed by both sides we ask you to identify the key sites for stores, based on the pre-agreed locations. We then begin more in depth conversations with landlords about obtaining space.
Board Approval
How we support you:
Finally, we take all of the information gathered – business development plans, site proposals and the contract – to the Board for approval and signatures.
