How long does the franchise recruitment process usually take?

It depends. Franchisee recruitment is a complicated business. All the research suggests that it is expensive for franchisors to recruit franchisees and it is, essential for franchisors only to pick suitably qualified franchisees.  Franchisees need to ensure that franchisors are being choosey in their selection process. The choosier they are the more likely that their franchisees will do well. Franchisors need to make sure that prospective franchisees have the financial resources to be able to take the franchise, have the support of their family and, most importantly, have the drive to make a success of the franchise.  From a prospective franchisee’s perspective, they must not be rushed and certainly franchisors should not hard sell their franchise. This is too important a decision for them to take for them to be placed under any pressure. A franchisee would need to visit the franchisor and talk to and visit as many of the franchisor’s existing franchisees as possible.  All of this takes time and probably, on average, from initial contact to signing the agreement it is unlikely that this would take less than three months.