If you are like most business owners you are constantly on the go, wanting to improve your business and thinking about how to get to the next level. You started your business perhaps out of an idea or maybe a passion and your business has continued to grow over the years. Maybe when you started your business you always had dreams of franchising and having a presence all over the place. Whether your business operates out of a location or is a service-based business franchising might just be the kick in the ass you need for growth. As a business owner you find yourself in a position where you have great traction, great sales and perhaps have even been recognized for your services. It is extremely satisfying to know what you have created and put together has resulted in such a positive effect on people. Now that you are in this position, you find yourself saying “I have a good thing going, maybe now is the time to take the idea of franchising off the shelf.” You may be wondering what are the secrets to business franchising. You figure there has to be some universal pattern, formula or secret when it comes to business franchising; and you wonder if what you have done so far and all of your accomplishments put you a step ahead. Let’s take a few minutes to explore the secrets to business franchising and shed some light on your questions.
The Secrets to Franchising Starts with You
The secrets to business franchising really start with you and it goes all the way back to how you started your business. This refers to your look, your feel, your philosophy, your service standards and the culture that you have created. All of these things took a while to evolve. When you started your business you had a vision. You knew what you wanted to do and how you wanted to be known for the services or products that you provide. If you are a service-based business then perhaps you created a certain look and feel for your vehicles, how your vehicles are setup, etc. If your business operates from a location then there is a reason for the layout of your business, how it is setup to control your flow of customers, how it is designed, etc. The way you have setup the look and feel for your business contributes to its success. When we create a franchise program we are going to model it after your business so it is easy for other people to duplicate the same setup (become more familiar with our strategies when structuring franchise programs). It’s not just about the service you provide or the product that you sell. It’s about the entire business built around that service or product. The secret to business franchising is that it’s about a complete and well-rounded business. In other words, the business built around what you have to offer.
Making Business Operations Simple
Let’s talk about the business surrounding your service or product. The things you do daily to run your business that you think are just common sense is really another set of secrets to business franchising. In other words, your sales strategies, level of service, how you perform activities, how you control costs and not to mention administrative duties all fall into this bucket. This is just a small sample of all the ancillary things that contribute to your success in providing services and/or selling products. It is all of these elements that when are put together make up your complete business (find out why it is important to franchise a well-rounded business). For example: day-to-day operations, the challenges you face, how you overcome service or product issues, vendor relations, managing employees, customer service, advertising and marketing, all of which you developed and are unique to your business. Being able to transfer all that knowledge effectively to someone who has never owned a business before so that person can duplicate what you are doing elsewhere is yet another secret to business franchising (read more about training franchisees). Improving on these elements brings us to staying ahead of the curve.
Staying Ahead of the Curve
It is one thing to transfer your knowledge to someone so that their learning curve and ramp-up time is minimized, but that’s only the beginning. Business franchising is about NOT being stagnant. Constantly innovating, developing, creating and coming up with nuances and processes that could improve the overall business is part of what your role will be as a franchisor (learn more about your responsibilities when franchising). This could be working on elements related to your services, the products that you offer and efficiencies in operating your business. During the course of operating your business you have weathered troubling times, you have crushed those proverbial speed bumps and as an accelerated entrepreneur you have constantly been looking to improve what you created. Continuing to innovate, make improvements and not remain stagnant or outdated and passing that along to franchisees within franchise system is yet another secret to business franchising. But wait Johnny…there’s more. As you surround yourself with more talent (franchisees) they tend to contribute solutions and ideas that ultimately help further your entire system. Ultimately everyone benefits. This might mean incorporating a new service, a new product or a twist to something you are already doing. Secrets to business franchising is that the leader (you) is always striving to improve and make things better. So if you want to be successful in franchising, it is imperative that different elements of your business do not become stagnant (read about how keeping franchisees engaged is another key to success).
Constant Contact
Franchisees that join your program expect that they have resources to lean on not just in the beginning but throughout their tenure with you. If franchising is executed correctly then providing ongoing support to franchisees for operational questions that come up, nuances, industry developments and whatever improvements that you make to the system is just the tip of the iceberg (take a look at our article that discusses other ways of providing ongoing value to franchisees). One of the secrets to business franchising is to remember that franchising is a relationship business. It is not a one-time transaction. Successful franchise systems implement some type of program to be in constant contact with franchisees. This could mean some type of mentoring or coaching program (or whatever you want to call it). It takes work and at times can be frustrating, however the results are astronomical. This also provides an opportunity for you to utilize some of your people on your team and empower them with the tools to help coach franchisees to be successful. Because let’s face it, as a franchisee begins to experience success with their business and their business grows they will be faced with the same type of challenges you faced as you grew your business (for example: when to know when to hire employees, how to manage high volume, etc.). By maintaining constant contact with franchisees and being in tune with where they are in their growth pattern your wisdom and support is priceless.
While this article does not give you all the secrets to business franchising, hopefully it provides you with an idea of what it takes to be a successful franchise system. If you are the type of entrepreneur that is seriously contemplating the idea of franchising your business, ask yourself are you capable of putting together a program that threads in all the elements mentioned above. If you are still curious and want to learn more or even figure out if franchising makes sense for you then call us directly at 1-877-615-5177 and we will be happy to answer all your questions.
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- Franchising is Much More Than Just Documents
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