There can be little doubt that the most effective way to market a franchise is to allow potential franchisees visit outlets run by existing, content franchisees. Not only does it enable potential franchisees to get a real feel for the business that they may buy into - warts and all - it also helps to reduce the suggestion that they were persuaded into taking up the franchise on the back of unfounded promises.

This is obviously somewhat difficult in the early days of a franchise, although access to the pilot operations is a reasonable alternative.

Many franchisors will say that finding willing potential franchisees is not a problem. The problem is finding suitable candidates who will be able to successfully operate a franchise and have sufficient funds to invest.

Advertising in the business pages of newspapers, and trade magazines can be a useful way of meeting potential franchisees. In many countries, where franchising is reasonably well established franchise exhibitions are run at which franchisors exhibit and vie for the attention and interest of potential franchisees. Some franchisors run open seminars for interested parties.

Whatever way the franchisor chooses to market its franchise, it is appropriate to have a well thought out set of documents explaining what the concept is. The temptation here is to present a lot of marketing hype in a glossy format that will persuade potential franchisees to make their future with you. This is fine to a certain extent, but franchisors must avoid the temptation for allowing "mere marketing puff" to become actual misrepresentations to potential franchisees. Any misrepresentations made at the recruitment stage will give a disgruntled franchisee the perfect opportunity to contest the viability of the franchise agreement before the courts. If misrepresentation is proved, the courts may allow the agreement to be rescinded and/or award damages in favour of the aggrieved franchisee against the franchisor. In order to try and reduce the potential exposure to such allegations, the franchisor is well advised to produce a disclosure document which is distributed to potential franchisees. This disclosure document (which is a legal requirement in countries such as the USA, France and Spain) should address various issues.