When franchising your business, we understand that the prospect of creating a Franchise Operations Manual can, to some, be daunting and intimidating. Developing this kind of document might seem overwhelming and scary. “Where do I start?” “I’m not good at writing!” “What goes into it?” Remember, the Franchise Operations Manual is simply a collection of your best practices that you have created and currently execute while you operate your business. Does that mean you have to go all the way back to when you started your business and try to document everything you did back then? Not really. Chances are the activities that you did when you first started your business, have changed and been revised to account for cost, time, technology efficiencies, etc. in order to better run your operation today.
Document Your Best Practices
No need to panic! This is not a journey down memory lane, but rather a documenting your best practices. The business activities, conversations, transactions, etc., that have taken place today, this week, this month and when you started your business are what you are documenting. Your job as a franchisor is to teach your franchisee every aspect of how to operate your business (as it is today) and give your franchisees all the tools they need to operate their business (more on your role as a franchisor). Think of it this way, the Franchise Operations Manual is a collection of all your knowledge and tools you use to operate your business in one easy to use resource.
Now to simplify the process, as a client of The Franchise Maker, we provide you with a Franchise Operations Manual Package which is a kit to help you put all your best practices together (this is one of many things we provide to you when franchising your business). This kit even has some pre-written content relating to managing employees, wage and hour regulations, etc. that you may find helpful to adopt prior to sharing recommended procedures to your franchisees. Our kit offers a road map for you to build upon with your different checklists, procedures and best practices that you have adopted and need to share with your franchisees. In fact, this is also the proper setting for you to specify and explain your proprietary processes and secrets to your franchisees (more on the purpose of the franchise operations manual).
Solicit Help from Your Employees
TIP: You can further streamline your efforts by enlisting the help of your employees, who have likely been integral to your daily business activities! The kit we provide is outlined in sections which provide for an easy way to delegate. So divide and conquer!
Now you are on your way to crafting an amazing document! Your franchisees will refer to this to manual while you’re training them which will make them more self-reliant and they will continue to refer to it for guidance (check out this article on the importance of training franchisees). It represents a “go to” guide for them, instead of calling you all the time. Like that term paper, the sooner you start working to put the pieces together, the sooner you will have a finished product ready for when you train your first franchisees.
So no need to panic or start worrying about putting your franchise operations manual together. Let our process navigate you through what can otherwise be a daunting project while we hold your hand and guide you into the magical world of franchising. Call us directly at 1-877-615-5177 or feel free to contact us and we will be happy to talk with you about the Franchise Operations Manual and our franchising process.
- How to Franchise Your Business
- Franchising is About More Than Documents
- Who Should Write Your Operations Manual
- Franchising: Think Scalability & Training
- Helping Franchisees to Start Operating Quickly
- Franchising My Restaurant
