STAGE 3: Designing the Franchise Package

Objective: In this stage you will formalize the franchise support package you will be offering to franchisees and establish how you will deliver this offering. Using a lean experimentation approach, you will define this support package by conducting in-person meetings with potential franchisees to gauge their interest in various possible packages, you will adjust the packages according to their needs and then begin to create the other key operational, training, quality monitoring and data collections tools and documents.

Suggested time-frame: The timing to complete Stage 3 will vary depending on the number of potential franchisees and thus the time invested to complete in-person meetings with potential franchisees, as well as the time needed to develop training curriculum and operational documents.

Recommended Roles and Responsibilities:

  • Executive Director: Sign off on the final franchise support package, fee structure, and franchise network brand.
  • Program staff / Franchise Project Manager: Conduct provider mapping, manage franchisee contact database, conduct surveys and in-person meetings, recommend final franchise package elements, lead on adaptation and creation of operations documents with the support of others in the organization, finalize franchisee data collection and management guidelines. Develop training curriculum, schedule, and materials based on the franchise package.
  • Marketing and Communications Staff: Assist with brand development and production.
  • Support staff: Support on the creation of operations documents.
Please follow these seven Steps to complete Stage 3:

To identify potential franchisees, you will first need to develop an ideal franchisee profile based on your social franchising strategy developed in Stage 2, in order to meet the objectives of your franchise network. Use the explanation you developed of your target population, or profile of the client you are trying to reach, as well as the eligibility criteria, to define the franchisee profile. You will then map providers in the geographic areas in which the social franchising model will be implemented. The following data sources could be useful for this exercise:

  • Ministry of Health
  • Health Management Information System (HMIS)
  • Central Statistics Office
  • Health facility assessment surveys (eg SARA, SPA, SAM, HFA)
  • Health regulatory bodies
  • Supply chain organizations
  • Organizations representing private/FBO or NGO communities

Once you have mapped eligible providers, using the template provided for the Franchisee Contact Database to store all contact information for potential franchisees. You will continue to use this database to track your communication and record follow-up actions with each provider.

Now it is time to reach out to providers to gauge their interest and needs. As a first point of contact, it is recommended that you communicate with potential franchisees through phone or email to gauge their interest. Based on your initial outreach to providers, narrow down a list of the most promising potential franchisees, considering their level of interest in becoming part of the network and their ability to help you meet your strategic objectives. Don’t forget to update your franchisee contact database accordingly. Schedule an in-person meeting with each potential franchisee to implement the Provider Baseline and Needs Survey, which will identify capacity gaps, training and supply needs, and factors that would attract these providers to a franchise network. This information will inform the franchise support package in Step 4. Note that if you are not able to reach providers by phone or email, you will need to plan an in-person visit as your initial outreach and can carry out the baseline and needs survey as well during this initial meeting if the provider agrees.

Once you have collected information via the baseline and needs survey for each of the potential franchisees, work with your team to design the ideal franchise support package that allows you to meet your franchising objectives. Remember that, based on the responses you received in the survey, you may want to again narrow the list of potential franchisees that remain interested and eligible based on your criteria, and have ongoing needs that can be met by your franchise network. Don’t forget to update your franchisee contact database accordingly. It is recommended that you design two to four different package offerings that account for the needs of all of the remaining potential franchisees and the goals of your franchise strategy. Use the guidance excel document, Menu of Options for Support Package, for ideas on the different elements to include in your sample packages and tips on establishing franchise fees. Once these packages are created, set up follow-up in-person meetings with all providers who are still deemed to be potential franchisees to test the various packages along with possible fee structures, and gauge which would be most appealing to the majority of the providers. If you have designed a new brand for the franchise network as outlined in Stage 2, you should also use these in-person meetings to solicit feedback on the brand and logo. Remember the principles of lean experimentation, this is where they come into play. Once you have identified the ideal franchisee support package based on your findings, you will validate the final package with those franchisees who have shown the most interest and who you feel confident will join the network and meet your strategic objectives. But first, there are a few final steps in the Design Stage before moving on to recruitment.

If you have designed a new brand for the franchise network, this is the moment to finalize the logo, brand and messaging, based on your conversations in the previous Step and the overall franchise strategy. As mentioned in Stage 2, you will likely need to create branded assets to recruit franchisees and raise awareness for your network, such as a branded webpage or microsite, or merchandise and communications materials that explain the final franchise support package, as well as to supply to franchisees for demand creation. Revisit the Stage 2 toolbox to view the guidelines for designing a brand and marketing strategy for tips on how to create a brand, logo, and promotional materials and the sample branded materials for ideas on branded assets.

In preparation for Stage 4: Recruitment, it is time to adapt and create the franchise operational and training documents and tools that will be used by both your organization and franchisees during implementation, including:


Use the above guidelines, templates and tools as key inputs into your two main operations manuals, the Franchisor Ongoing Operations Manual, which helps MAs detail the systems and processes necessary to sustain the franchise network, and the Franchisee Operations Manual, which details the systems and processes necessary for franchisees to launch and sustain operations. These two templates will guide you through the process of developing these operational manuals. As you are completing the franchisee operations manual, you will outline the training that will be offered through the franchise model. In this step you should also begin to develop the training curriculum outline and training plan based on your franchisee support package defined in Step 4. Use the guidelines, Clinical Training Best Practices and examples, Sample Training Materials from other MAs, as guidance. Note that you will still have time to finalize the training content and guides in Stage 5, nevertheless, this steps allows you to prepare by outlining the curriculum and plan, so that you are easily able to finalize the training content once you have fully validated the support package in Stage 4: Recruitment.