Your Franchise Website and Selling Your Business: 3 Keys You Need to Know
It has come to the point for whatever reason that you want to sell your franchise. That’s great. Of course, with that you will want to sell everything that goes with it, including your website, customer data base, phone systems, and more. Since it is a package deal, there are some keys you should know about your website when you sell. Here are three things to consider about a franchise website.
Parent Company vs. Independent
There are two types of Franchise website. one is provided for you by the parent company of your franchise or is often just a part of their website. The second type is an independent one, a site you created that uses the company logo and reflects their mission and message, but gives you more control over local search results, content, SEO and other factors.
If you have a company provided website, you will have to look into what it takes to transfer that site to the new owner. If you have an independent site, you will be selling more than just the site. You will be selling the domain name, transferring hosting, and giving up the rights to any content you have placed on the site itself.
Know what you have, what you are responsible for transferring, and make that clear as part of the sale.
That Pesky Customer Data
Much like when you sell a medical practice, you cannot transfer personal data such as birthdays and email addresses of customers as part of a sale without that customer’s permission. This means you must either do a mass mailing and re-obtain permission to retain that data, or you must delete it and the new owner must start over with creating their own customer data base.
Remember, this is a legal requirement, especially with the new GDPR privacy requirements. Failure to follow this properly can result in fines and other legal actions. Don’t risk it. Be sure this is a part of your sale plan and be thorough about it.
The Devilish Details
For almost any type of franchise, a website is a critical part of marketing and customer relations. When you are selling, the buyer may have a number of questions you should be able to answer especially if you have an independent site and not one issued by the company. You should know general traffic numbers, what amount of sales come from the website, and which content you own and what you don’t.
You should also have good numbers on the number of customers who have subscribed to your site (so you have their data) and how many of them are engaged on a regular basis. in other words, if you are selling a site, what value does it add to the business? If the answer is none, the buyer may be interested in starting their own site, and just letting yours go.
A large part of the buying and selling process is to show value. Why should the individual buy your franchise instead of starting one on their own? It is up to you to show them that value and a part of that is your website and marketing plan. If you don’t have one, that can affect the value of your business.
When it comes to your website, know what you have, what you need, and what that might be worth to a potential buyer.
Have questions?
If you have questions about buying or selling a franchise, contact us at Rogerson Business Services to see how we may be able to help you.
