“Congrats! You are now franchising nationwide!” Once you hear these words, your journey as a franchisor officially begins. You are now in position to be at the “helm of a fleet of ships”, so you need to understand what is expected of you in this new role as a franchisor.
Your role as a franchisor goes beyond the regular day-to-day task of being a business owner (read about what it means to franchise your business). Your franchisees will look to you as they grow their business. You will need to be available to mentor and guide them. While there are various duties and responsibilities, here are a few of the most important aspects to your new role as a franchisor:
Onboarding, Training and Mentorship
As your franchisees begin the process to get their business up and running, they will look to you for guidance in what for them is uncharted territory. After all, you are the expert! After all you have done it before, you had to get your business open. Now it is time to help the franchisee do it. Yep, everything from opening a bank account to what to buy, who to buy from and whatever they need to do ahead of time to get the business open prior to coming to you for training. Speaking of which you will be required to train the franchisee not just how to perform your services or sell your products but every aspect of operating your business (this includes all the administrative tasks you do behind the scenes). Beyond their initial franchise training, your mentorship and ongoing support is expected to continue to steer your franchisees in the right direction as they bounce into hurdles. Your franchisees need to know that you are vested in their success long after the initial sale!
Being a Pioneer and Adding Value to Your Brand
As you bring on franchisees and your business starts to become known in other markets, you need to continue to enhance your brand. It is expected that you continue to pioneer yourself in the industry, create vision and direction for the system as a whole. Your mantra is to improve upon and strengthen the brand. As franchisor, YOU are the visionary.
Keeping things current and constantly evolving adds value to your system (read “When Franchising Providing Ongoing Value to Franchisees“). As you continue to have franchisees in other markets, it is not uncommon for franchisors to create different initiatives intended to benefit everyone (for example, a new program that franchisees can rollout to their customers).
Moreover, franchisees don’t want to feel like they are part of a stagnant or antiquated system that has become obsolete. You will need to monitor industry developments, competition and keep a watchful eye on the changes in technology and consumer trends. And when necessary, adding depth to your existing services and/or products, or even refining processes to be more efficient will be appreciated by your franchisees!
And don’t hit the panic button! It is not uncommon that new ideas and improvements come from franchisees. Yep, that’s right! More often than not it is the franchisees who suggest an improvement or change that is then implemented and rolled out system-wide! Imagine creating a network of like-minded business owners who (like you) are motivated to be better (for more on this topic you can read “How Franchising Your Business Will Affect Your Future“). If franchising is executed correctly, it becomes very powerful!
Managing Relationships
As a franchisor, more than likely you have created relationships with preferred vendors and suppliers that are instrumental to the products and services used and offered by your franchisees. While these vendors and suppliers may provide products or services to your system, these relationships need to be nourished. This allows you to monitor both the quality of the products and/or services provided, as well as the negotiated pricing (learn more about how you can make money from vendors and suppliers when franchising by reading “How Do I Make Money Franchising My Business?”).
Furthermore, as a franchisor, your ability to think outside the box becomes even more invaluable. As leader of your fleet, you constantly seek to forge synergistic relationships that will add value to your system. Strategic partnerships that are developed by you, give rise to collaborative marketing opportunities and events, which franchisees can participate in at the local, regional or national level.
Franchising your business can be an exciting direction for you and your business. While there are expectations of you as a franchisor and right now they may seem overwhelming to think about, they are really not that much different than what you’re doing now, just on a LARGER scale.
Are ready to take on the role of franchisor? Call us directly at 1-877-615-5177 and we will help you understand what franchising your business could look like and determine if franchising is right for you!
- “Franchise Partner” Why This is a Bad Word
- Franchising is for Big Picture Thinkers
- Franchising Requires Your Involvement
- Successful Franchising is Keeping Franchisees Engaged
- Can I be a Franchisor?
- How to Franchise
