Rich offers these six tips for managing a franchise:
- 1. Follow the proven system. ...
- 2. Hire the best people and treat them right. ...
- 3. Delegate to your employees. ...
- 4. Use what your franchisor gives you. ...
- 5. Manage your time efficiently. ...
- 6. Acknowledge the fact that you will likely need franchise mentoring and assistance. ...
- 7. Give yourself a chance to work on your business without having to always work in the business. ...
Full Answer
What is brand management?
What is a franchise owner advisory council?
How is a franchise managed?
It is a franchisor's responsibility to find what needs the franchisees have on a regular basis, and then research what resources there are to assist with those needs. This comes by way of strategic partnerships and alliances with outside vendors and companies.
How do you control franchises?
Rich offers these six tips for managing a franchise:Follow the proven system. ... Hire the best people and treat them right. ... Delegate to your employees. ... Use what your franchisor gives you. ... Manage your time efficiently. ... Acknowledge the fact that you will likely need franchise mentoring and assistance.More items...•
What are the 4 types of franchise arrangement?
Below are four types of agreements franchised businesses commonly form.Single-Unit Franchise Agreement. In a single-unit agreement, the arrangement grants the franchisee the right to open and operate a single franchise unit. ... Multi-Unit Franchise Agreement. ... Area Development Franchise Agreement. ... Master Franchise Agreement.
How do you brand a franchise?
The ultimate branding checklist for your franchiseIdentify a clear mission statement. ... Build your core values. ... Identify your target customer. ... Create a logo, trademarks, and tagline. ... Get clear on your brand identity. ... Strengthen your brand guidelines. ... Ensure multi-channel brand consistency. ... Set your franchisees up for success.More items...
How can franchise quality be controlled?
4 Essentials of Quality Control in FranchisingWith strong quality controls in place, franchised locations very frequently outperform company-owned and hired manager-run locations. ... Legal Documentation. ... Franchisee selection. ... Documented systems. ... Training and support.
Who is in control of a franchise business?
The franchisor owns the trademark and business model. Upon paying the upfront fee and continuing royalties, the franchisor grants the franchisee the rights to use the trademark and business model.
How are franchises structured?
A franchise is a small business. The franchise owner pays the parent company a fee along with ongoing royalties to operate under the parent company. Owners benefit from the parent company's reputation and advertising, as well as ongoing training that helps them start and grow their own franchise locations.
What are the 3 conditions of a franchise agreement?
Franchise agreements vary between different franchises, but these seven areas should be addressed in every franchise agreement.Use of Trademarks.Location of the Franchise.Term of the Franchise.Franchisee's Fees and Other Payments.Obligations and Duties of the Franchisor.Restriction on Goods and Services Offered.More items...
What are the 3 basic types of franchising?
There are three main types of franchise opportunities available, these are: Business format franchises. Product franchises, or Single operator franchises. Manufacturing franchises.
Why is branding important in franchising?
A strong brand not only helps differentiate a company and its products or services but also increases customer loyalty. It increases the value of the franchise.
What is the relation of branding and franchising?
Franchisor Brand Guidelines Companies develop a brand in order to create an emotional connection with their targeted customers. If a franchisee can accurately understand and create the brand personality at their location, they'll be able to attract and retain customers.
What does the owner of a franchise do?
As a franchisee, a business owner is responsible for the following: Paying the franchise fee and paying royalties to the franchise to help run the larger business. Finding, leasing and building out a location for the franchise. (As mentioned previously, most franchises will help extensively with this.)
What control does a franchisor have?
The franchisor holds the brand ownership, including the logos, name, operational systems, and brand names for products and services. Franchisors have previously shown the viability of their concept, and they grow their business by offering franchisees the right to run their brand.
Does franchisor have control over franchisee?
They do not manage the franchisee's business, and cannot put the system at risk as a parent would for their children. So, no, a franchisor is not the franchisee's parent, and the franchisee is not the franchisor's child. They are businesspeople in a contractual relationship – that is the reality.
How much control does a franchise owner have?
It's a very rigid business model. It's certainly not for everyone. That said, it's important to remember that the franchisor controls almost everything. From the products/services you'll be offering, to branding, training programs and even the technology you're allowed to use.
Does a franchisee has total control over their business?
This means franchisees cannot do their own thing and instead have to follow the franchisor's system. Having said that, the franchisor's system will not cover all aspects of the business, so franchisees do have flexibility in how they manage and operate their business.
What is a franchise?
A franchise is a business where the owner or franchisor allows a franchisee to access the business knowledge, trademarks, and processes. The franchisee can then sell a service or product under the franchisor’s business name. When starting a franchise, usually the franchisee will pay a start-up fee and annual fees, depending on the set-up.
The stages of the franchisor-franchisee relationship
Your franchisor-franchisee relationship is a long one. Similar to a marriage, it should be built on trust and commitment from both sides of the party. By exploring the different stages of this unique relationship, we can look to determine where along the franchisee journey has the greatest impact on the overall success of the franchise.
3 must-have skills for franchise management
As a franchise owner, your days are spent managing your business and taking a deep overview of your business. At the same time, you utilize your personal skills to maintain good working relationships with your franchisees. While franchising is about growing your business; at its core, franchising is about relationships.
8 tips on how to manage franchisees
Running a franchise with a large network is stressful; that’s no surprise. Although you may demand a lot from your franchisees, with plenty of support and training, most franchisees can find success running their own business. Good franchisors set the tone for communication and management.
In summary
The unique relationship between franchisee and franchisor is crucial to the success of your business. Supporting your franchisees is a delicate balance of being present while also not interfering with the day-to-day operations.
What is a franchise?
In franchise systems, a business allows its products and trademarks to be used by another business in exchange for a fee and royalties. The former is known as the franchisor and the latter is known as the franchisee.
What are the two types of franchise relationships?
There are two main kinds of franchise relationships — business format franchising and traditional franchising.
How long should franchisees train?
If you’re conducting on-site training, spend at least a week or so to help the team grasp important concepts. The best training programs are ongoing ones wherein franchisors train store employees for a few days every year.
How to work with franchisees?
And finally, document everything you discuss. If you work with many franchisees across a vast area, have similar meetings with your regional managers.
Why is it important to audit franchises?
Franchisees often see audits as a threat, so it becomes important to explain why they can help their business. Design an audit plan and share them with your franchise owners. You can decide which stores to visit based on objective parameters such as revenue, growth, or footfall.
What are some examples of franchises?
Traditional franchising arrangements are less stringent when it comes to business operations. The best example is gas stations like Shell or Chevron. They aren’t concerned about how you run the gas station as long as you sell their brand of gasoline. Traditional franchises are also seen in soft drinks, automobiles, and spare parts industries.
How to treat franchise owners?
Treat your franchise owners like one big family. Whether they’re showering bouquets or bricks, make yourself accessible and address their queries. Besides, since they deal with customers on a regular basis, they might have some good ideas.
Why is franchise training important?
Franchisee training should cover the reasons why it’s essential that franchisees remain on brand, the consequences of failing to do so, but most importantly the benefits to them and their businesses (and therefore their bottom line), their customers and to all of the team of everyone remaining brand consistent. Having franchisees fully engaged and on board is the secret to franchise branding success.
What is the key to franchise branding success?
Ultimately the key to ongoing franchise branding success, as with all aspects of franchising, is open lines of communication between franchisor and franchisee and attention to detail from the start. When franchisees are running their own businesses independently in different geographical locations and often scattered across the globe this can be a big challenge at times. But when your brand is your biggest asset, it’s a necessary one.
Why is investment in branding important?
But when a franchisor begins to open new physical locations and expand through a network of franchisees there must be consistency upheld across every franchise branch, in order to maintain quality and to meet the needs and expectations of customers. It’s that consistency that is the lifeblood of your franchise network – franchisees will join you and customers will come to you because of the surety factor of being part of an established and recognized brand. There needs to be clear rules, clear guidelines, style guides and set processes and procedures to ensure that franchisees know what they need to do, what is expected of them and what they can and can’t do in order to ensure that the franchisor’s brand is protected and that their customers are gaining the full brand experience that they will expect when choosing to spend their money with the franchise brand.
How to maintain a successful franchise brand?
The key to maintaining a successful franchise brand is for the franchisor to constantly and consistently monitor franchisee compliance, to take steps to address incidents where a franchisee might stray away from what is expected or on brand, to provide additional training and support where needed, and to look to recognize and reward excellent examples of franchisee brand compliance. This is an ongoing but essential part of franchise brand protection, and of course a franchisor has a responsibility to the entire franchisee network to ensure that it is done.
Why is it important to carefully examine processes and procedures?
It’s also important to carefully examine processes and procedures – all of the touchpoints that a customer or potential customer will come across in their experience with your business and how your brand will come across and be communicated to them at each and every one.
Can a franchisee remain on the brand?
A franchisee cannot be expected to remain on brand if they don’t know what it actually is. A franchisor should have a clear set of guidelines covering everything which relates to the brand and it’s protection, from the brand values and the company "why", to the use of logos, colors, fonts and all visual elements, to style guides and the tone of voice to be used by franchisees in all communication. This should include clear examples not just of good practice and what is considered to be "on brand", but also examples of what should NOT be done.
Does branding include all of the graphic and visual elements that represent your business and make you recognizable?
Yes, branding includes all of the graphic and visual elements that represent your business and make you recognizable – the snazzy logo, the colors and the imagery, ...
Why do franchisees delegate to employees?
That is why we hire employees. Delegation relieves some of the load from the franchisee and provides the employee a sense of importance and ownership in the operations of the business.
What is Minuteman Press?
Minuteman Press is the world’s largest and number one rated design, marketing and printing franchise, and Richard has a wealth of experience to share with prospective franchisees. Rich offers these six tips for managing a franchise: 1. Follow the proven system. For those franchisees that came before you, it’s very likely to work for you too, ...
How to maximize the value of a franchise?
It is important for the business owner to maximize the entire value of the franchise system by abiding by the established methods and honoring the brand you bought into. Any solid franchisor has your back and will support you. At the end of the day, however, helping yourself and managing your business effectively is a huge key to continued franchise success as well.
Why is it important to have a solid franchise system?
A solid franchise system works to help hardworking people build something for themselves and their families without having to reinvent the wheel. Of course, you also will need to be committed to the tried and proven business model and the franchise system that has worked for others who came before you. Learning how to best manage your franchise business and applying those lessons is crucial to owning and operating a successful franchise.
How to become a franchisee?
1. Follow the proven system. For those franchisees that came before you, it’s very likely to work for you too, if you follow the systems already set up. 2. Hire the best people and treat them right. Your most important resource is the staff.
How to manage time efficiently?
Manage your time efficiently. You should work with your team and do all the things you need to address today’s workflow but pay attention to the bigger picture. Attend to those important tasks and develop the presence of mind to know when to proceed to the next item if something is taking more time than expected.
Why is franchising an appealing option?
Whether you relate to these cases or have your own valid reasons for wanting to start your own business, franchising becomes an appealing option because you can be your own boss but also have the support and training from a company that will have your back.
How to keep franchisees on the same page?
Keep your franchisees on the same page by giving them adequate marketing materials and resources. You’ve already invested in all the materials for your marketing efforts, so don’t be afraid to pass those along to all new locations. It helps out the franchisee and keeps your branding on par.
What is a common franchise model?
If you do decide to keep your franchise inventory uniform throughout each location, you’ll also need to consider your inventory management software. A common franchise model gives the franchisor control of the entire product inventory. This means that each franchise orders products through a common supplier: the franchisor. The franchisee, meanwhile, sources products from a variety of sellers.
What is Marketing Compliance?
Franchisors are all familiar with “franchisee” compliance. It's a location’s adherence to all of the company's standards and guidelines, whether it's not disclosing the secret recipe or following the rules around non-discrimination. You’ve likely also heard of brand compliance, the term you might use to describe how your brand should “look,” “feel,” and “sound" to your target audience.
Is non compliance a matter of choice?
Sometimes, non-compliance isn’t a matter of choice. It’s a matter of confusion. A multi-channel campaign that requires extensive customization by each location may seem perfectly intuitive to your brand management team. But, your franchisees spend most of their time working on the business and they may never have attempted such an ambitious effort before. When this happens, they usually have no idea where to even start.
What is brand management?
Brand management for franchise often appears to be a big stick if not managed well as it usually comes down to compliance with the brand guidelines and marketing strategy and framework. Remembering that most franchisees aren't marketing experts and are desperate to achieve sales, they may be willing to do things with the brand and visual identity that aren't compliant and dilute the brand.
What is a franchise owner advisory council?
A Franchise Owners Advisory Council (FOAC) or Franchise Advisory Council (FAC) are elected franchisees who represent the franchisees in important decisions . The group meets with the franchisor, contributing to strategic and operational conversations about the brand, product, promotions, pricing. They bring both their frontline, in-store knowledge and often have regional responsibility, representing franchise groups in specific locations.
