7 franchise management tips

What does success and long-term growth have to do with the use of proper franchise management? Everything! You must take on different challenges as you help nurture an extension of the original company. Because each location has many different obsticales they face, you must account for all the moving parts. In an ideal world, you can easily manage all franchise needs in on central location.

You may be thinking about how it would be possible to achieve that. Luckily, there are some tested strategies that can help set you up for the future.

Seven tips to successfully managing your franchises

1. Effective franchise communication

The efficiency of a company all boils down to how well its team communicates. There must be a proper channel to relay news, changes, and updates throughout the company. Take time to create a structure on how to communicate important business decisions and apply them at all levels. Technology can make this easier.

When you’re dealing with multiple entities, you cannot wait to update teams during weekly or monthly meetings. Some industries like sports franchises must negotiate constant changes on a consistent basis, and can do so with the right tools. These tools can establish constant communication, provide reports, and document everything.

Lastly, you want to promote a culture of transparency within your company. Be honest and upfront with employees. You should also give them a platform to speak their concerns and ideas. It will boost morale, value employees, and create a communication culture everyone should adopt.

2. Franchise standardization practices

Delays and problems between franchises happen due to the lack of a standard process. A company may use tool “A” to help with customer service and immediate concerns. However, the franchise is using tool “B”, which they adopted because there was no clear standard to uphold. When the time comes for the two to collaborate, it takes longer because one has to make adjustments to keep the work flowing between branches.

One way to standardize tools, practices, and services is to create a document that guides people. For most companies, this is an employee handbook and for others, this is considered a standard operating procedure (SOP). You should also set guidelines on the other aspects of the work you want to standardize. Set policies in place across the board with documentation, HR, meetings, and more. The clearer your direction, the higher the chances your staff will follow suit.

Another method you can adopt to create uniformity is training. A franchise may not have the knowledge and skills needed to run as smoothly as the original. Training is the way to bridge that gap and give people knowledge to help run the franchise effectively. Set a training for whatever it is you find the franchise needs. Have experienced people from the original branch train others in operations and customer service.

By doing this, you are teaching the franchise to operate independently while still maintaining universal standards. You make it easier to communicate and also increase efficiency.

Training doesn’t have to be a drawn-out week-long seminar. You can hold training activities through virtual sessions between teams. You can also create video content that others can reference when they need help with a particular aspect of running the company. By creating this content, you lessen the downtime and make sure everyone is up to date.

3. Create space for improvement

There’s always something to improve, even with the most successful business. When you’re expanding, it’s vital to address any concerns the company may face on new ground. One way to do that is by equipping the franchise with everything they need to grow as strong as the main branch.

Some of the things you can do for them include:

• Give them a platform where they can express ideas and concerns.
• Allow them to see and provide analytics for business decisions.
• Let them make their own decisions on internal issues, cultivating their independence.

By doing this, you train a franchise to stand on its own feet while keeping communication open between its team and the staff at the main branch. Data is critical, and the ability to provide ideas based on what they’re experiencing can provide valuable insight into the business.

You cannot neglect the need of any club franchise or other businesses when it comes to improving operations. Whether they need materials or tools, there must be a way to provide for their needs. Alternatively, it would be too time-consuming for one person to handle two businesses. Building a strong management team on the franchise will ensure that operations run smoothly even on their own.

4. Do not overload a new franchise

It can be exciting to equip a new franchise with everything it needs to operate as strongly as the primary company. However, it’s unreasonable to expect that the franchise team will perform similarly on the first day. There will be some growing pains, and they will not be able to adopt all practices right off the bat. Some of your methods may also be inefficient because it’s a different company with unique customers, staff, and circumstances.

Be mindful of how you communicate and try to let them grow into their role as a franchise. Provide information, but don’t spoon-feed them. By providing just enough information and enough space, they can create a way for the franchise to work. Not every process will be the same, so you don’t have to micromanage them.

By giving them space, you teach them to be independent while also lessening the stress of the business owners. One way you can help them ease into the role is by setting periodic meetings to listen to their concerns and teach them something new for operations.

5. Always use data

Data should be leveraged to the advantage of today’s businesses. You have access to information right at your fingertips, gathered automatically, thanks to new technology. There’s no greater asset than knowing the impact of each of your business decisions through numbers. Introduce analytics to your franchise. This provides your team with the insight needed to know what to improve and where they are strong.

You can track numerous aspects of a business through analytics. From marketing campaigns to inventory, you won’t make a decision blind, as there will be data backing it up. For example, if the new marketing campaign isn’t working as intended, you can decide if it’s worth cutting costs entirely or making adjustments to see if it performs better.

There are also other ways you can use the information your business gathers.

These include:

• Creating an ideal customer profile based on historical transactions.
• Testing the effectiveness of price points, marketing, and sales strategies.
• Finding the best channels for marketing and operations.
• Figuring  out specific aspects of the business one can optimize to improve profitability.

6. Recognize and connect

Creating a franchise is similar to a partnership. You get an extension of the business, which grows and helps you profit over time. It’s also vital to nurture relationships to ensure that the franchise operates at its peak performance. One of the ways you can do that is to recognize their achievements and provide rewards.

Motivation is one of the best drivers for success for any company.

Apart from that, don’t be afraid to continue to connect with branches as needed. You can apply the same concept when it comes to working relationships. When you have connections that help your business run, don’t be afraid to introduce your franchise to them. They will help the company grow and provide support through another company that cares for its success.

Recognition also helps you identify the best people you can use to grow the franchise. For example, a motivated employee will quickly present as an ideal candidate for a management role. All this works hand in hand when growing your franchise.

7. Create clear plans

All businesses want to profit, but not all detail the path to help their company realize success. Provide clear plans for your franchise, as they will not have as much information as you during the start. Teach them how to gather more customers, close more sales, and improve the business. The plans you show them will depend on what they need.

Some of the things you can share includes:

• Work procedures
• Marketing
• Training

Franchises will also know what to expect and how to implement the plan at each stage. Create and discuss these plans alongside the franchisees to create a collaborative effort. You’ll be able to customize and cater to their concerns during the discussion. A franchise can also evolve because of some unexpected but fortunate circumstances, and a plan acts as a guideline to help them recognize opportunities.

Putting it all together

A franchise is an investment that requires work to see it arrive at similar success as the main branch. Recognize challenges and areas of opportunity to help it grow. A franchise is only as good as its management, so create a strong foundation for its future.

One of the ways you can do that is by supporting it with the tools needed to help with all aspects of the operation. Franchise management using Configio helps with lead generation, onboarding, conversions, and more. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help your franchise.