Most franchisors host some form of Discovery Day or Join the Team day.  This event is intended to be a show and tell day culminating with a celebration that the select franchisees in attendance are signing franchise agreements and becoming part of the franchise system. As a franchisor, to get the most value from a Discovery Day, you should take care to select only the elite franchisee prospects to ensure that time is not wasted on people who are just fishing for information.  Once these elite franchise prospects are determined, invite them to corporate headquarters or a company owned location and show them around.  Let them see what they will experience in a ‘day in the life of a franchisee’ setting.  Additionally, a Discovery Day should expose the franchisee to the management that they will be interacting with as a valued member of your franchise team.  By the time someone gets to a Discovery Day you should be pretty sure of them as a prospect; however, still ensure during this time to evaluate the franchisee prospects so that you can make a judgment call as to whether you want to award them a franchise in your system.  Note though that a good franchise prospect will take this opportunity to evaluate you, your management structure, your support staff, and your facilities as well to determine whether you can support their needs. As a franchisee,  you should see a Discovery Day as a sign that you have passed the initial qualification stage and that the franchisor is hopeful that you will be a good franchisee.  When attending a discovery day, you should take care to carefully analyze everything going on and talk with the franchisor’s management and other staff to have all of your questions answered.  Many times, this is where you will make your decision to sign the franchise agreement, so asking your questions now will allow you to make a more informed decision about the next 10 years or more of your career. For both franchisors and franchisees, the end of a Discovery Day can be a very nervous time.  Franchisors are hoping that franchisees will be ready to sign a franchise agreement and franchisees are nervous about whether they are ready to sign.  Neither side should be hurt or confused if a request for time is made to consider everything learned about the other during this Discovery Day process.  The key is to be open with each other and ask all of your questions so that there are not any nasty surprises after the franchise agreement has been signed. If you would like help preparing for a Discovery Day, contact our franchise attorneys toll free at (866) 993-7262 now for a free consultation.