Franchise Territories are Generally Delineated On a Map; Why?
If you own a mobile service or home based franchise your exclusive territory will be delineated on a map in the attachment of your franchise agreement. You will be assigned generally a single city, county or region and another franchisee or team member of the same system will not compete with your although may be right around the corner. You will only drive or be required to service clients as far as your exclusive territory boundaries. Unless of course there is no franchisee in the next city over, then might be willing to temporarily expand your market region if it is okay with the franchisor. You may go to that city periodically for special people or special clients that have needs of services. This is why we have exclusive territories in the franchising industry.
For home based franchises it cuts down on driving time and you can concentrate on a specific area with little or no competition and especially no competition from franchisees on your own team who use your same methods of operation. You can build your business up to the point where it is un-penetratable by competitors and will be unhurt in times of recession. Usually your exclusive territory boundaries are easily delineated on a local area map. Normally these are city or county boundaries unless of course you live in a huge city such as Los Angeles, which has suburbs. Each suburb may be its own territory. Your area is delineated on a map and it is actually in your Franchise Agreement. It may just say, "Your territory is the city limits of x city." This means you should have all of your operations within that area or perhaps up to twenty percent of your operations in another territory that has not yet been sold yet upon approval of your franchisor.
The reason in franchising we have delineated the exclusive territories on a map and the reason many franchisors use city boundaries is because those are clearly defined and well known. They are easily and well understood even though they may be jagged at times and s-shaped or curved; this prevents lawsuits from ambulance or franchior chasing attorneys. As franchisors we know where the boundaries are and everybody involved knows the boundaries too. People know by their address what area their office building is in. So when they call the dispatch service and the operators ask "What city you are in?" You can see the problem if you called the wrong Dominoes Pizza and you ordered 50 Pizzas for your office party and the franchisee next door lost the sale, they might be a little perturbed? Most customers know which city by the city limits that their business is located in when they call. Or, if it is a residence they know where their house is located because they know which voting district they are in and to which city they pay their taxes, water, gas electric, etc. bills.
So, there you have it. That is why franchisors use maps to delineate the franchisee's exclusive territory. Think on it.
"Lance Winslow" - If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance;
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