B2C vs B2B in Franchising

Howdy! I am back from New York City and Toronto, where I was running around to different franchise events. I’m super energized to have made some great new connections. 

I love hearing from different franchise industry leaders, and to be refreshed on all that information is super inspiring and energizing.

As you may know, I often work with early and emerging franchisors. One of the things that I find people have a hard time wrapping their head around, is that when you become a franchisor, you’re essentially starting a new business. (This is actually my exponential growth tip for today). 

When you become a franchisor, i.e. when you have a small business, and you decide that you want to franchise it to expand the company, you’re really going to be running two businesses.

Let’s say it’s a cupcake company for example. You’re selling cupcakes, in maybe a little bakery-style, retail storefront. Now you’re going to go look for franchisees.

You’ve probably heard the lingo, B2C and B2B in franchising. 

On the B2C (Business to Consumer) side of things, you’re still selling the cupcakes. You’re still marketing towards the end-user. You’re trying to get people to love your brand and be loyal consumers and end-users of your brand. 

But on the B2B in franchising side (Business to Business), the marketing now becomes more about attracting prospective franchisees and growing the overall company.

Another example to help you think about the difference between these two businesses is to think of innovation. You have to stay innovative in your B2C for your end-user, for example, creating new recipes or new products. 

You also need to stay innovative in the business to the business side, (the B2B)! That might include things like how you communicate with your franchisees or maybe taking the brand to a whole new level i.e. the bigger business of things.

So… The exponential growth tip for today is:

When you franchise your small business, think about it like you are starting a new business!

Of course, there’s a lot of crossovers as well. Core values, purpose – all those things should crossover in a franchise.

At the end of the day, you have to be clear that you’re going to be running this business, probably with a manager or something, but also running a bigger company that is responsible for its franchisees.

Have more questions about franchise development, and the B2B in franchising? We discuss this and more in our free virtual AC Roundtables where emerging franchisors gather on zoom to collaborate and problem-solve together.

The AC Roundtables are a free resource we offer franchisors who are seeking collaboration and peer-to-peer learning. We’ve been running these virtual roundtables since 2020 and we always love to have new franchisors join us!

Try one of our free AC Roundtables