Operating manuals are your secret guide that describes the procedures and standards that must be followed by franchisees and contains comprehensive guiding principles on how to manage the business by franchisees. The operating manual covers all aspects of operational, administrative and general procedures. It can be divided into parts that include different areas such as accounting, employees, advertising, promotion and maintenance. You have to design the operating manual pages uniformly and include all work policies and procedures with particular emphasis on your obligations to the franchisee. This manual also contains the opening plans for sites or units, daily operating procedures, development of the business nature booklet, accounting system, details of using POS programs, pricing policies, procedures for ordering, receiving, storing and displaying products and goods, sale system, cash handling, customer service, cleaning and maintenance schedules, safety and environmental procedures, time management, financial management and reporting system. The operating manual must contain illustrations, organizational charts, job description templates, recruitment procedures, details of employees’ evaluation, site selection criteria, site development plans and internal and external site designs, supplier list, product or service list, receipt checklists, product or service display map, operating schedules and dates.

Business models or franchise systems often include either criteria for selecting a site by activity and approved by the franchisor or a selected by the franchisor's representatives.
The criteria usually include (choosing the right property – a commercial complex, a shopping mall, a city center, a free-standing building, a business complex, with the right space), appropriate population density, purchasing power in the area, the ability to see the site from a distance and ease of access, as well as affordable annual rent, presence of good commercial activities, customer flow, opportunities for growth and development with distinctive buildings or landmarks near the site.

Keep in mind that you will want specialized professional support from franchising consultants to acquire honest advice and proper guidance throughout the evaluation stage of the franchisors under consideration. This becomes more important when interest in the potential opportunity grows and negotiations advance, where you must assess financial expectations and the franchise agreement. At this point, you should have a clear grasp of the available opportunity, which does not exclude you from consulting with a professional franchise lawyer and financial adviser, as their evaluation is considered an investment since it prevents avoidable mistakes in your franchise journey.

Yes, according to the provisions of Article (12-3) of the Disclosure Document Requirements annexed to the Implementing Regulations.
The franchisor must provide you with a detailed list containing his franchisees, and you should not be satisfied with a list that includes some of them only. If the franchisor hesitates to give you this list, you must know the reason that calls for that. Among the important questions you should address to other franchisees are the following: How do you evaluate the initial training provided by the franchisor? How would you rate his continued support? Have there been any disputes between you and the franchisor? How do you assess the efficiency of communication and exchange of information between you and the franchisor? Hence analyze the answers carefully because your success will depend on the success of the business relationship between you and the franchisor as mistakes may occur from both parties.

Once you have identified the areas of business that interest you and your financial ability, you will need to conduct a study on all the franchise opportunities available in those areas, including the financial study (investment size, franchise fees, return on investment, profit margin). The Franchise Center platform at Monsha'at offers many options in this regard. You should review all marketing materials you can get from the targeted franchisors, but you should always remember that marketing brochures may not necessarily mean good franchising and you should focus on the main franchise evaluation criteria, specifically the quality and efficiency of the support provided by the franchisor. You should check the franchisor’s history and experience in supporting and training franchisees and seek help in preparing a financial plan that includes expected revenues, costs and profits for a minimum of three years.

The franchise relationship needs appropriate abilities and personality traits, as well as a willingness to work hard. The ability to deal with change, swiftly adapt to new business concepts, and adhere to the franchisor's standards may be the most important traits you need before applying for franchising. You must be able to manage the business and all of its potentials at all levels.

Like anything else, franchising has its pros and cons. Thus, you must first allocate appropriate capital to create the infrastructure for franchising and establish and operate experimental units owned by you. Secondly, you have to secure sufficient financial and administrative resources to recruit, train and support the franchisees you are required to choose very carefully, as the wrong choice may lead to abuse of your brand in the market and in the future, with the network of franchisees, franchisees may have the opportunity to pressure you to implement new policies and procedures that you are not satisfied with.

Franchising is concerned with the distribution of financial risks by doubling the number of commercial activity sites / units through other investors, which means a greater expansion of the chain of stores and a better opportunity to focus on the requirements of the local market. This in turn reduces the influence of competitors and creates a new source for the franchisor by collecting franchise fees from franchisees in addition to the possibility of selling products that have private intellectual property rights to franchisees, which constitutes better cash flow and returns on investment. Among the financial advantages enjoyed by the franchisor are lower operating costs, distribution and advertising and greater purchasing power, and this of course means increasing the funds allocated for research and development. Operationally, the franchisor can manage a larger series of sites / stores through a smaller central management compared to owning and developing all the sites himself. Furthermore, franchising standardizes management and operation procedures, which reflects positively on the standardization of operating methods and raising levels of productivity and quality through effective follow-up as franchisees have a self-motivation to work hard to make their investments successful and achieve better operational and financial results, which is reflected on the effectiveness of sales and increase the customer base.

Franchise systems offer a simple approach to managing commercial activities that have long been proven successful in the market. As a result, in addition to technical expertise in managing the business, the franchisee gains from the franchisor's cumulative experience. Additionally, the franchisee receives professional guidance and training at each stage to help him advance his practical abilities and avoid the "trial and error" phase of launching and running the business, which has lower financial risk than with other independent projects. Many specialized surveys show that the success rate of business activities that operate the franchise system is significantly higher than the success rate of starting a new independent business, because the franchise provides management systems and well-studied and proven business models under a well-known brand, and thus the franchise achieves higher success rates than other independent activities. Furthermore, the franchise ensures the franchisor's homogeneity and harmony in operating procedures, internal and external design, product presentation methods, and sales techniques, as well as the brand's marketing strength, which improves the image of business activity and increases product popularity. All of this reflects favorably on the franchisors, and thus franchise is an excellent opportunity to grow your business with the help of the franchisor's experience and ongoing support.

In the case of the Master Franchise, the franchisee obtains the rights to establish, operate and manage the business activity in an entire country or region. These rights may include granting sub-franchises to others in this country or region, just as the original franchisor does in the country of origin by providing support services to franchisees. Franchise systems offer a simple approach to manage commercial activities that have long been proven successful in the market. As a result, in addition to technical expertise in managing the business, the franchisee gains from the franchisor's cumulative experience. Additionally, the franchisee receives professional guidance and training at each stage to help him advance his practical abilities and avoid the "trial and error" phase of launching and running the business, which has lower financial risk than with other independent projects. Many specialized surveys show that the success rate of business activities that operate the franchise system is significantly higher than the success rate of starting a new independent business, because the franchise provides management systems and well-studied and proven business models under a well-known brand, and thus the franchise achieves higher success rates than other independent activities. Furthermore, the franchise ensures the franchisor's homogeneity and harmony in operating procedures, internal and external design, product presentation methods, and sales techniques, as well as the brand's marketing strength, which improves the image of business activity and increases product popularity. All of this reflects favorably on the franchisors, and thus franchise is an excellent opportunity to grow your business with the help of the franchisor's experience and ongoing support. In the Area Development Franchise, the franchisee is responsible and obligated to establish and operate more than one franchise unit in a specific geographical area within a specified period of time without being entitled to grant sub-franchises to any other entity or individual.

Single Unit Franchise is the most widespread and easiest form of franchise, where the franchisee is responsible for investing in the establishment and operation of one site using their practical skills. Conversely, under Master Franchise, the franchisee obtains the rights to establish, operate and manage the business in an entire country or region, including granting sub-franchises to others in this country or region, just as the original franchisor does in the country of origin by providing support services to franchisees.

The conditions are determined by the franchisor. Monsha'at has no involvement in the evaluation procedures and agreement between the two parties.

Any person or company that is administratively and financially qualified and conforms to the acceptance criteria determined by the franchisor and is willing to pay/finance the franchise fees and project cost. The franchise fee is paid in exchange for the brand's goodwill, as well as the necessary experience and know-how obtained to run the business, in addition to franchisor's ongoing technical support during the agreement period.

It enables franchisors to promote their own franchise opportunities free of charge, thereby facilitating the search process and enabling entrepreneurs or interested entities to receive financial support from financers.

Companies that own a brand name or brand, whether for a product or a distinguished service, and that have innovated and developed their own business activity, business models and conform to the franchise granting conditions according to the Saudi Franchise Law. The Law requires that franchise business must be conducted according to the franchise business model for a period of not less than one year by two persons or in at least two different sale outlets. The franchise length as well as the number of branches and regions enhance the strength of the brand.