So you’ve finally decided to franchise your business and you’re ready to pull the trigger. Your research has identified some things that you will need in order to complete the franchise process. One such thing is…the franchise operations manual.
As you have been researching how to franchise your business, you may have spoken with several companies that you found who claim they can help you (check out our article to learn what to look for in a franchise development company to help you franchise). In fact, it seems that some of these companies hard sell you to write your franchise operations manual for you! Bonus! Or so you think, Beware! If it sounds too good to be true, it is. Things are not always as they appear with some of these other companies (learn about how to uncover the truth about companies you are talking with about franchising)!
Getting To The “Write” Stuff
Admittedly, you’re busy. You know how to run your business. You have best practices in place and have honed them over the years; but documenting everything is not your strong suit! To some, this is a very daunting task (if you identify with this statement check out our article on the topic of the franchise operations manual scares me). It brings up the phobia and consequential writer’s block that follows. To others it is a welcome project providing an opportunity to finally put on paper and document the best practices that help make your business run smoothly.
We’re here to tell you that when someone says they will write your franchise operations manual for you, be very careful!
The “Write” Questions To Ask
If you are talking with a company that wants to franchise your business and they claim they will write your franchise operations manual for you, here is one key question to ask. How this question is answered will tell you immediately who is really doing the work.
“Can you describe the process you will use to understand my business and document
all my methods and processes?”
This is a meaty question, indeed, and might result in one of the following responses:
A. They say they will send you a template and you have to fill out your techniques, methods and processes then send it back to them (reverse delegation: they are not really doing the work).
B. They will call you so you can describe to them how everything works, just over the phone (reverse delegation: they are not really doing it).
C. They say someone comes to your place of business, and learns how your business works by witnessing day-to-day activity, then documents all your best practices, techniques, methods and processes.
D. They say they don’t need any input from you; they will figure it out by themselves and put the franchise operations manual together for you.
There is only one acceptable answer here and that is “C“. Any other answer (especially D) is only a sales pitch to get your business. YES, really.
Is There A “Write” Way?
There are really only two ways to “skin this cat” and get your franchise operations manual created:
Best Option: When it comes to your business, you (or someone on your staff) are the best qualified to tackle this project. Don’t panic. With the right tools, it can easily be done in-house.
As a client you will receive a Franchise Operations Manual Package that will provide you with all the materials (a kit which is a virtual road map) that you can use to organize and effectively document your best practices (the Franchise Operations Manual Package is one piece of what we provide when franchising your business). Our Franchise Operations Manual Package even has some pre-written content relating to best practices when it comes to employee management, wage and hour regulations, employee discipline, common operational forms, etc. all prepared by our labor attorneys.
Second Best Option: Hire a business consultant who specializes in putting together operations manuals. In this case, a person well-versed in how to document your best practices would come to your business to capture all the details and nuances of your operations, methods, techniques and processes. Yes, you would still be involved in this process, and that’s a good thing!
Putting Your Mind at Ease
Making sure that you are working with a company that has your best interest in mind is critical! The steps to franchise is overwhelming for anyone, let alone the idea of producing a franchise operations manual. Let us put your mind at ease and show you the way! Give us a call directly at 1-877-615-5177 and we will answer all your questions about the franchise operations manual or anything else about franchising!
- Process to Determine if You are Good to Franchise
- How to Build a Franchise
- Who is Qualified to Franchise My Business
- Franchising is About More Than Documents
- Why Franchise Training is Important
- About The Franchise Maker
