For many emerging franchisors, franchise tradeshows feel like the most direct path to growth: put up a booth, talk to a lot of people, collect leads, and sell franchises. The reality is more nuanced. Franchise shows can absolutely become one of the strongest lead sources you’ll ever use—but only if you treat them like a structured sales channel, not a marketing outing. A franchise tradeshow gives you something digital marketing often can’t: a concentrated room of people who are actively exploring business ownership, comparing brands in real time, and open to scheduling a next step immediately. It’s a high-intent environment. But high intent doesn’t automatically produce high conversion. The franchisors that win at shows win because they show up with a clear offer, disciplined qualification, and a follow-up process that turns conversations into applications. This article breaks down the best ways to exhibit at a franchise tradeshow to sell your franchise—step-by-step—so you can build a repeatable tradeshow strategy as part of your franchise growth plan. 1) Start With the Right Mindset: A Tradeshow Is a Sales System, Not a Booth Many franchisors judge a show by how busy the booth felt. That’s not the right metric. A successful show produces: - qualified candidates - scheduled next steps - a clean and trackable pipeline - and an efficient cost per awarded franchise If your show plan doesn’t include measurable outcomes, you’ll fall into the most common trap: leaving with a stack of business cards and no consistent process to convert them. Your goal at the show is not “talk to everyone.”Your goal is: identify the right people and advance them to a defined next step. 2) Know Who You’re Targeting Before You Arrive The best booths feel magnetic, but they’re not generic. They are designed for a specific buyer profile. Before the show, define your ideal franchisee in clear terms: - owner-operator or semi-absentee? - single unit or multi-unit mindset? - target investment range - required liquidity and net worth - target markets (cities/states) - background (sales, management, construction, healthcare, home services, etc.) - daily involvement expectations

Franchising can be one of the most powerful ways to scale a business—because it lets you grow locations without funding every build-out yourself. But franchising is not “free growth.” It’s a business model with its own financial engine, cost structure, and profitability timeline. Many entrepreneurs make a critical mistake early: they estimate franchise revenue (fees and royalties) without truly understanding franchise costs (support, marketing, compliance, onboarding, technology, staffing, legal, sales). The result is a franchise program that looks profitable on paper but becomes strained as the system grows. To calculate the revenue and profit potential of franchising your business—and to understand the financial model step-by-step—you need to build a franchisor P&L model that is grounded in reality, aligned with what franchisees need to succeed, and scalable. Use the FMS Royalty Calculator This guide explains how to do that. 1) Start With the Two Financial Models You Must Understand When you franchise your business, you’re really building two models at once: A) The franchisee unit economics model This answers: Can the franchisee make money? If franchisees don’t win financially: - you won’t sell units consistently - you won’t keep units open - you’ll face disputes, defaults, and brand damage B) The franchisor revenue and profitability model This answers: How does the franchisor generate revenue and build an enterprise? A franchisor’s financial model is about: - up-front franchise fees - recurring royalties - brand fund contributions (if any) - supply chain income (if applicable) - other fees (training, tech, renewal, transfer, etc.) - the cost to recruit, launch, and support franchisees You cannot accurately calculate profit potential without modeling both sides. A franchisor’s profitability is tied directly to franchisee health. 2) Step One: Validate Franchisee Unit Economics First