A strong candidate can still stall before opening when financing, site selection, lease timing and other development steps do not line up. Where do those delays happen, and what can be done earlier?

Work through a realistic development scenario to examine when financing should begin, what candidates need to have ready and how franchisors, lenders and other partners can keep good deals moving toward opening

Learning objectives

1. Identify common causes of financing and development delays.

2. Determine when financing and candidate preparation should begin.

3. Identify changes that could reduce avoidable delays within their own development process.

Breakout Activity: The Development Timeline Challenge

Small groups receive a realistic candidate case that includes:

a target opening date

a financing requirement

a proposed location

a lease deadline

missing candidate information

competing timing pressures

Groups decide:

What needs to happen first?

Where is the greatest risk of delay?

What should the franchisor do now?

What does the candidate need to do?

When should the lender become involved?

What expectation or deadline may need to change?

RBC and the franchisor speaker then walk through how they would handle the case and compare their approach with the room.

Workbook takeaway: Participants then identify one point in their own development process where financing or another dependency should be addressed earlier.