Let’s pretend for a moment that you are in the future and have already completed the franchising process. Yep, not too long ago were looking to franchise my business and found the best damn franchise development company, The Franchise Maker, to help you. Now, you have awarded a bunch of franchises and it’s come to your attention that one of your franchisees is struggling. If you’re lucky enough, you found out because your franchisee reached out to you, admitted they are struggling and asked for help. However in most cases you won’t be so lucky and instead of asking for help the franchisee may complain that, for example, they cannot make their royalty obligation to you because their business is not doing so well. This is a sign your franchisee is struggling and it will be your job to help. This may be a reality so let’s talk about how.
Franchising Is Not Always “Happy Happy Joy Joy”
After you have completed the franchising process, as a future franchisor it’s now “go time” and this may take a little bit of work. First you will never want to waive royalty payments as that will not solve anything and sets a terrible precedence (see why it is important that franchisees pay royalties). Your number one priority should be to do whatever it takes to keep your franchisee from drowning. This means you will have to invest some resources to send someone to go out to see exactly what your franchisee is doing, how they are soliciting services or selling, review their processes and help identify what is not working.
This will be a great opportunity for you and your team to discover flaws in your franchise training program especially when it comes to marketing, advertising and client acquisition (more on training your future franchisees). This may force you to re-evaluate such strategies because more than likely other franchisees may be experiencing the same problem.
On the other hand, if it is a franchisee-related problem due to lack of communication skills, aggressiveness, traits, etc., then unfortunately you have to figure out a way to work with your franchisee even if it means paying for them to go to some type of seminar on effective communication or sales techniques. By doing all this then you are demonstrating a commitment to your franchisee and can honestly say you did everything you could to help him or her. The best case scenario is your franchisee takes heed to your hands-on advice, starts securing accounts, turns their business around and becomes a raving fan.
Unfortunately you accepted this person as a franchisee so now you will have to work with him or her (check out this article that discusses how to find great franchisees and avoid some of these challenges). If it turns out that it is a franchisee-related problem then guess what, you will have to re-evaluate whatever franchise qualification process you put in place so such traits are discoverable in the future. This may mean maybe slowing down your acceptance process so such traits are not overlooked.
Franchising is a Journey
So while there may be times in your franchising future when things are not “happy happy joy joy” remember franchising is journey and weaknesses make you stronger! When franchising you must have a commitment to your franchisee’s success (read about keeping franchisees engaged to help them be successful).
Franchising is an extremely rewarding endeavor. Not only is it rewarding from the standpoint of getting people started into their own business, helping grow the economy and change people’s lives but another element is the satisfaction of being able to help guide a franchisee through tough times. If this sounds attractive to you and you can see yourself stepping in to help a franchisee in the future, then perhaps franchising is the right path for you. Call us directly at 1-877-615-5177 and let’s find out. You can read more about franchising and for additional information on How to Franchise.
- Helping Franchisees Find a Location
- Why Franchisees Should Open Quickly
- How to Provide Value to Franchisees
- Franchisees are Not Employees
- Why Franchisees are Not Considered Partners
- Franchising a Restaurant
