THE IMPORTANCE OF A WRITTEN BUSINESS PLAN

Posted on September 23, 2022September 23, 2022 by Contributing Writer

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio

Starting a new business can be a daunting task, but it can be easier if you have a plan. A written business plan is an important tool that helps manage your company and keep you on track with your goals. It will help you determine what type of company you want to run and how best to reach those goals. A good plan should also analyze the financials, operations, and market conditions. It’s not just about writing down numbers – it’s about understanding them so that you can make informed decisions about how best to move forward!

The Importance of a Written Business Plan
By Dom Hemingway

You’ve got a great idea for a business, but you need funding. Or maybe you want to keep your company on track by establishing an established plan? Either way, no question that having a written business plan will help propel your venture forward.
A written business plan is a must-have for any new business.

The first step in starting any new business is creating a business plan. A good business plan will help you define your goals, strategies, and objectives for your company’s future. The right business plan can be a roadmap to help achieve those goals.
A written business plan is also essential to secure funding from investors or lenders! In addition, a well-written document can help convince people that you are serious about taking risks and making changes to grow their investment as quickly as possible.Starting a new business requires a lot of thought and research. A well-written business plan is an essential element that can help you reach your goals, so it’s important to give this document the attention it deserves.
The following steps will help you create an effective, comprehensive plan:

Research the market. Before committing to your idea, make sure there’s room for growth in the industry and that there are no existing competitors who could undercut you or drive away customers.

Write down all ideas for how your company will operate and how it will make money (i.e., what kind of product or service do you want to offer customers?). This section of your plan includes information about who will be running the company, where funds will come from, how much money you need to start up operations, and whether there are legal issues related to registering as an LLC or other business entity). It also includes information about what kind of employees are needed for specific tasks–and whether those people currently exist within your network!

A written document acts as a road map for your company’s future.
A business plan helps you make early decisions about the future. It also allows you to make better decisions and avoid mistakes, problems, and pitfalls.

A good plan analyzes the financials, operations, and market conditions.
A good business plan should include a financial analysis of the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement. It should also include an operations analysis outlining the business’s marketing strategy, sales plan, and distribution channels. This section will help you understand how to conduct these analyses successfully.

A good plan must also analyze market conditions—what they are and how they might change over time. Understanding market size is essential to your success: If there’s not much of a market for what you’re selling, then it won’t matter how great your product or service is because no one will buy it. So, in addition to analyzing current market conditions (size), predict future trends that may affect these conditions so that you can adjust accordingly for future changes in demand for your goods or services.

The executive summary
The executive summary should introduce critical players in the venture. In addition, it should include a description of the business, the business plan, and how you will implement it.
The executive summary should be able to stand alone and give investors an overview of your company’s goals, methods, and management team.

Identify your customers
It would be best to outline who your customers are and describe your brand. What do you want your business to be known? What type of person is your catering customer? For example, what image comes to mind when someone looks at your work if you’re selling artwork? Are they buying it to hang on their wall, or are they buying it as an investment piece?
You can answer these questions by creating a brand profile that describes your qualities and those who buy from you.

You must include information on financing requests, use of funds, and exit options.
If you’re seeking funding for your business, it’s crucial that you include your financial request in your plan. The financial presentation will give potential investors an idea of how much money is needed to get the company up and running. You should also include a breakdown of where you intend to use the funds and the percentage allocated for each plan section.

Return on investment (ROI) is another aspect you will address in a written business plan. This term refers to profitability, or how much profit a company can generate after considering expenses. It’s essential for investors considering putting money into your company to know how much return they’ll receive on their investment compared with other opportunities available at the time. This information will help them make an informed decision about whether or not they should invest in yours specifically.
It should also discuss challenges and opportunities, projections, and more.

A business plan should also discuss opportunities and challenges. Then, it should explain how you plan to overcome those challenges or exploit those opportunities. Finally, the plan should also include projections—a forecast of what your company’s performance will look like in the future. If you are seeking funding, you may need to provide more detail in the financial section than you would if you were using it internally as a planning tool. A business plan differs from an investor presentation in that a business plan focuses on how your company will succeed. In contrast, an investor presentation focuses on how much money investors will make. The financials should be detailed and quantitative if you are trying to raise capital from angel investors or venture capitalists. On the other hand, if you are only trying to obtain financing from friends or family members for your startup idea, then having more of an overview may suffice.

Executive Summary
The executive summary should be able to stand alone and give investors an overview of your company’s goals, methods, and management team. The executive summary is a summary of your business plan. It should be able to stand alone and give investors an overview of your company’s goals, methods, and management team. It should not include any confidential information or data.
The executive summary should be no more than two pages in length. If more information is needed, you can expand in later sections of the plan, such as the market analysis or financial forecasts section.
It’s important not just for investors considering investing in your company but also for potential partners or employees who may read through it before deciding whether they want to work with you or invest their time (and possibly money) into helping you succeed as an entrepreneur.

Operations Explanation
You need to be able to explain how your business will operate at the most basic level to get funding and grow your company.
A written business plan is a fundamental tool that helps you to explain how your business will operate at the most basic level. The document should include: An overview of the company, its products or services, the market, and whether there are any competitors. As a new company, it’s crucial to clearly define who your customers are and how you will reach them.
A description of each part of your operations — finance, marketing, sales, operations (production) — with details on how each area supports others within the organization in achieving goals for growth and profitability.
Use of funds: How much money do you need? How long before investors get their returns? What exit options do they have? Challenges and opportunities: Is there room for growth within this industry or niche market? Projections: Financials (income statements/profitability ratios)

Conclusion
Starting a new business can be a daunting task, but it can be easier if you have a plan. A written business plan is an important tool that helps manage your company and keep you on track with your goals. It will help you determine what type of company you want to run and how best to reach those goals. A good plan should also analyze the financials, operations, and market conditions. It’s not just about writing down numbers – it’s about understanding them so that you can make informed decisions about how best to move forward!

CONTROLLING LABOR COSTS IN A RESTAURANT

Posted on September 22, 2022 by Franchise Strategist

Photo by Charlie Firth on Unsplash

Controlling Labor Costs In A Restaurant
By Johnny Day

Labor costs are a critical part of the restaurant business. The labor costs in your restaurant will vary depending on how much you staff your business, what kind of benefits you offer, how large your staff is, and how much turnover there is. If your labor costs are too high, it can cause issues with profitability. However, if they’re too low, then you may not be able to meet customer demand or provide the level of service that customers expect. Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution for controlling labor costs; every restaurant will have unique factors affecting its labor expenses. The best way to manage these costs effectively is by creating an action plan based on data from previous years’ budgets and actual payroll figures from those same periods. Here are a few tips as an overview to labor cost management.

Control Staffing Costs
Staffing costs are typically the most significant expense in a restaurant. Hence, it makes sense that controlling labor costs is one of your biggest priorities. You can do this by hiring the right people, ensuring you have enough staff to cover shifts and peak times, ensuring you have the right staff for the job, and keeping your team happy and engaged.

As you can see, payroll cost is one of the largest expenses in a restaurant. The good news is that they can be controlled by carefully planning how team members are scheduled according to past sales trends. In other words, if you control your staffing levels and manage employee benefits and turnover while keeping an eye on labor-related taxes, you’ll be well on keeping your payroll costs under control.

Control Employee Benefits
Employee benefit costs can be a significant part of your labor costs. Health insurance and retirement benefits are usually the most expensive. Still, you may also offer additional perks such as vacation time or sick pay. As a business owner, it’s essential to understand what is covered under each employee’s benefits package. In addition, it’s critical to keep these costs in line with your budget and ensure that employees have everything they need to perform their job well. Also important is communicating these details clearly with employees. Take the time to ensure there are no misunderstandings about what they can expect from their benefits package.

Create A Management Staff That Must Multitask
To keep labor costs low, you must have a management staff who can multitask. A manager should be able to manage multiple employees and tasks simultaneously. This means they must be able to effectively prioritize and delegate tasks, as well as address any issues that arise from the execution of those delegated tasks.
To do this effectively, managers need a solid understanding of how their business works. They need to know what positions are required for optimal performance. For example, what duties each requires and how these roles relate to the greater operation (i.e., if an employee is late or leaves early). With this information readily available, managers can quickly decide which tasks they should assign where they’re needed most—and whether or not an employee might need training before taking on new responsibilities.

Optimize Your Team Member Schedule
Optimizing your team member’s schedules is essential in controlling labor costs. Optimizing your schedule ensures that every shift has the correct number of workers and that no worker is over or underutilized. You’ll want to define the problem before starting on a solution, however, so here’s how:
Figure out how many labor hours are used for each shift in your restaurant. Then track this number each day across all shifts
Review the duties performed by each employee during their shift(es), and allocate labor costs per job type (e.g., food service or dishwashing) according to industry standards or best practices
Determine how many hours each job takes based on its nature.

Software Helps Manage Labor Costs
As a business owner, you want to ensure that your business stays profitable. One way to do this is by software designed to help you control staffing costs. Labor management software can help you accomplish this goal by keeping track of time, attendance, and scheduling in one place.
You’ll want to use the right labor management software for your business. Find one that’s easy and efficient to use so that it doesn’t create more work for yourself or your employees (who are already busy enough). It also has to be affordable and reliable to provide accurate data about when employees start and stop working each day.

Conclusion
A successful restaurant can positively impact the local economy, but not if it’s not profitable. Therefore, controlling labor costs in your restaurant is one of the most important aspects of restaurant operations. Follow these few tips and see how they improve your bottom line.

Maximizing Employee Retention

Posted on September 5, 2022September 5, 2022 by Franchise Strategist

Photo by Desola Lanre-Ologun on Unsplash

Maximizing Employee Retention
By Johnny Day

An engaged employee contributes to the organization and feels valued by it. In addition, an engaged employee can be more productive, loyal, and energetic than a disengaged one. And when employees are happy at work, they tend to stay longer with their employer. For this reason, companies are increasingly focusing on improving employee retention rates. However, not all companies have the same needs or resources, and there are no simple solutions that apply across industries or countries. So here we will look at some strategies for maximizing your company’s retention rates:

Stop focusing on the costs of retention.
One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to focus on the costs of retaining employees. The price may be slightly higher than recruitment, but it’s a good investment for your business.
Retention rates are typically 20% higher than recruitment costs, so if you can retain just one good worker for an extra year, you’ll have saved more money than you spent on hiring that person in the first place!
Retention can lead to increased productivity and morale within your company, which helps ensure everyone stays motivated at work. It also means less turnover and improved efficiency during work hours because everyone knows what they’re doing now.
The reasons above don’t even include all the additional benefits of employee engagement when people like their jobs.

Create a retention strategy
The first step in creating a retention strategy is ensuring it aligns with your overall business strategy. A solid retention plan should be implemented at all levels of the organization, from executives down to frontline employees. Additionally, it should use data related to turnover rates and reasons for leaving—to shape its strategies and methods. Once you have decided on how you want to approach employee retention (and are ready for action), several tools can help:
Surveys are great tools for gathering information from employees about their work environment, including areas where they feel happy and satisfied and where they see room for improvement. You can use them to determine why employees choose one company over another when deciding between job offers. This information will give you insight into what matters most when making offers yourself!

Exit interviews: Though exit interviews don’t always happen before an employee leaves a company (sometimes managers ask them after someone has already left), they’re still valuable because they provide feedback directly from former employees who have new insights into what made them decide to leave their old jobs or departments within their organizations.*
If you can’t think of anything else to do, then focus on improving the employee experience. You want to ensure that your employees are happy with their work environment, coworkers, and tasks.Exit interviews allow you to find out what employees liked best about their work. They will also help you understand why they chose to leave; they also help you identify ways to improve your current practices or create new ones. These interviews can be conducted face-to-face or over the phone; some companies even use an online survey tool to gather information from departing employees.

Audit your human resources workflows. The first step in improving your retention is determining where you fall short and how. You can do this through an audit of your HR workflows, which will allow you to identify areas where there are gaps, bottlenecks, or redundancies. To do this, ask yourself:
* Are our new hires being onboarded properly? Are there any areas that need improvement (e.g., training) or opportunities for streamlining (e.g., documentation)?
* Do we have an effective method for recognizing and rewarding employees for their contributions? Is it efficient enough that we won’t lose valuable employees because they don’t feel appreciated quickly enough?
* How does our performance management process work from end to end? Does it provide timely feedback so employees can improve their performance and stay engaged?

Speak with your employees
To retain employees, you need to listen. Your employees are the experts on their well-being, so invite them into the conversation about how the work environment can improve things at work. Ask what they like about their jobs and what they would change if given a chance. Ask if they are happy where they are in their careers and whether or not they feel successful in their roles. Ask them if there is anything that the company could do differently to improve morale or make life easier for them at work. If someone feels valued at a company, they will happily recommend it to others who might also benefit from working there.

Retaining good workers can save you time and money as long as you care for them.
Retaining good workers can save time and money in today’s competitive business world. Here are a few tips to help you keep your employees happy and productive:

Appreciate them! Giving praise and showing appreciation for their work shows that you value their contributions, encouraging them to continue doing great things for your company.
Please give them the tools they need to succeed! If an employee is struggling with something they’re working on, helping them out or getting different technology might be enough to get them back on track again. If not, having a dedicated mentor on hand may be helpful too!

Encourage team bonding activities like group lunches or outings (always keeping safety in mind).
How do we measure and evaluate our employees’ performance? Is it timely enough to make an impact on their career development? How do we ensure that all employees receive regular feedback on their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? If you can answer these questions effectively, you can create an HR strategy that keeps your best talent. Many happy companies have taken to social media to understand their customers better. They are listening and responding to the needs of their audience. If you want your employees to feel valued, you should do the same thing. Ask them what they like about working for your company and what changes could be made to improve things even more. These questions will help your employees feel closer to each other and their workplace, which may encourage them to stick around longer. Offer growth opportunities! If an employee has been with you for a while, consider giving them more responsibility or training on something new to expand their skill set.

Conclusion
We hope this guide has been helpful for you and that it’s helped you think about employee retention in a new way. While most HR professionals know retention is essential, many don’t spend enough time planning for it or taking action to improve their retention strategies. But by following our tips here—and making sure your own company is prepared to do its part—you can help ensure that your employees feel valued and appreciated at work, which will lead them to stay longer with your organization. And if all else fails? Try giving out some nice bonuses!

THE ADVANTAGES OF OWNING MULTIPLE FRANCHISED UNITS – Part 1

Posted on June 30, 2022June 30, 2022 by Franchise Strategist

Photo by Eiliv-Sonas Aceron on Unsplash

In an already established franchise system, it is easier to find staff that is competent and trustworthy. Instead of hiring new staff from a company you are unfamiliar with, the odds are greater, in a multi-unit franchise, that they have worked in your orbit. In this sense, the ability to hire

THE ADVANTAGES OF OWNING MULTIPLE FRANCHISED UNITS
By Gary Occhiogrosso, Managing Partner of Franchise Growth Solutions.

The advantages of a franchisee owning multiple units are simple and plentiful. First off, the more locations that someone has, the more money they have a chance to make. Buying multiple franchise units may be an initial risk, but once you make the decision to pursue that path, it is advantageous. Because of the large network of administrative staff and resources one has at their disposal, one is able to use the same resources in one location as in any other. This means that you get more growth despite using less resources.

In addition, one can use existing overhead at multiple locations. Because not all the cost goes into one location, it’s easier to spread the risk, as sometimes one location may have a better performance than another. Because a franchise is a network of locations within one company, it is simple to spread the resources around to multiple different locations.
According to the 2016 franchise report by the British Franchise Association (bfa) and NatWest, approximately 29 percent of all British franchisees now own more than one single franchise unit.

“The bigger you get, the more of an opportunity you have to grow and strengthen your bench team, and our bench team is built to take on additional locations and grow,” said Mike Sartwell. Sartwell owns the development rights to the entire state of North Dakota and Montana. His plan is to open three Slim Chickens locations every year until his company’s portfolio reaches 18 units.
I love it, ” Sartwell said about being a multi-unit and multi-brand owner. “It’s fun and exciting, even though it can get a little overwhelming at times. It’s for those reasons that I feel very fortunate to represent two great food brands that offer plenty of support and guidance. Slim Chickens has a southern hospitality way about it and it puts its people, its guests, and its employees first. That’s the kind of brand we want to grow with.”

Most simply put, the knowledge, expertise and resources you get from starting a multi-unit franchise build on one another. Chances of success and competency greatly improve with the more units you have. It is in your best interest, as a franchisee to seek out multiple locations if at all possible.

Stay tuned for part two of this article were we discuss other reasons why owning multiple franchised units is a modern day method of empire building.

Does Your Franchise Program Contain the Elements of a Top Franchise?

Posted on May 25, 2022May 25, 2022 by Franchise Strategist

Here are 10 elements that you will find in the top performing franchise programs. If you are a franchisor and want to enhance your franchise performance, make sure these are a part of your franchise operation.

Does Your Franchise Program Contain the Elements of a Top- Franchise?

By Ed TeixeiraFranchise Expert, Author, Franchise Executive and Former Franchisee with 40 years of Franchise Industry Experience.

Ever wonder what sets the top franchise brands apart from the rest? There is a big difference between the indicators of a good franchise program and how the franchisor got to that stage. Whether a franchise system has 10, 100 or 1,000 units there are certain practices that separate the top franchise brands from the rest.
Here are 10 elements that you will find in the top performing franchise programs. If you are a franchisor and want to enhance your franchise performance, make sure these are a part of your franchise operation.

1. Stick to your franchisee profile
Have a franchisee profile and when franchise candidates do not fit the profile, say no! If using brokers, then remain in control of the franchise sales process.

2. Be candid with prospective franchisees
Provide prospective franchisees the tools they need to be a successful franchisee.

3. Have an effective training program, evaluate it, and continue training
Top performing franchisors have an effective training program that continues as an on-going activity.

4. If the franchise program needs adjusting, then do it
If certain marketing programs, products or services are not delivering the results then make changes.

5. Franchisee profitability must be a priority
The structure of the franchise program both operationally and financially must provide franchisees an opportunity for success that does not require extraordinary performance. If the franchisees follow the program and do not earn an ROI commensurate with their original investment, then the franchise is flawed. There must be balance between the earnings of the franchisor and its franchisees.

6. Franchisor leadership must be fully engaged in the franchise operation
Franchisor executive leadership must be totally involved in the franchise so that there is total awareness of successes and failures. There is no room for “surprises” when it comes to franchise operations. Whatever the forum, franchisee feedback must flow to franchisor leadership.

7. Solicit Franchisee input for important operational and marketing decisions
Whether through a Franchise Advisory Council, advertising committee or other representative body use them as a sounding board before making major operational decisions.

8. New products and services should be evaluated and measured by select franchisees before introducing
Obtain objective results from these franchisees, which will enable you to obtain a franchisee system buy-in when implemented.

9. Measure franchisee results on a regular basis
Use key performance indicators (K.P.I.s) to measure franchisee performance on a scheduled basis, whether monthly or quarterly. This enables a franchisor to know how its franchisees are performing.

10. Protect the integrity and standards of the franchise program
It is critical that the franchisor uphold the standards of the franchise. The franchisees that follow the program deserve it and the customers that use the product or services provided by the franchisees are entitled to consistency. Franchisors that do not protect their brand are not respected by their franchisees.
When franchisors have these elements in their franchise program, they can feel confident their franchise brand will be a top performer.

About the Author:
Ed Teixeira Franchise Expert, Author, Franchise Executive and Former Franchisee with 40 years of Franchise Industry Experience.Ed is a recognized franchise expert with over 35 years experience in the franchise industry. He has served as a corporate executive for franchise firms in the retail, manufacturing, healthcare and technology industries and was a franchisee of a multi-million dollar home healthcare franchise. Ed is the author of Franchising From the Inside Out and The Franchise Buyers Manual. He has participated in the CEO Magazine Roundtable Meetings with business leaders from around the country and spoke at a number of venues including the International Franchise Expo and the Chinese Franchise Association in Shanghai, China. Over the course of his career, Ed has been involved with over 1,000 franchise locations and launched franchise concepts from existing business models. Ed can be contacted at 631-246-5782 or [email protected].

5 TOP ITEMS YOUR SMALL BUSINESS NEEDS ON ITS CYBERSECURITY TO-DO LIST

Posted on May 14, 2022May 27, 2022 by Franchise Strategist

No matter the size of your business, you can take practical steps to help defend against cyberattacks, which will save your company time, effort and money in the long term.

5 top items your small business needs on its cybersecurity to-do list

(BPT) – If you run a small to medium-sized business, you may think your risk of cyberattacks is slim to none. But just because your business is smaller and you have your data stored on-premises does not exempt you from risk. According to the Ninth Annual Cost of Cybercrime Study by Accenture, 43% of cyberattacks are now aimed at small businesses — but only 14% of those businesses are prepared to defend themselves. Since the pandemic, cybercrime has increased by 600%, according to Embroker.com. And the cost of cyberattacks — from business disruption and lost data to system downtime, damage to your company’s reputation and even legal liability — is higher than ever. Cyber defense needs to be a major component of your business strategy.

What can your business do to help prevent these attacks in the first place?

Types of cyberattacks

It helps to understand where cybercriminals are most likely to strike, which is at most companies’ biggest point of vulnerability — the human factor. The Ponemon Institute’s State of Cybersecurity Report has identified the most common types of cyberattacks on small businesses:

Social Engineering/Phishing (57%): This can take the form of an email that appears to be from a trusted source, like a co-worker or supervisor, asking for help and requesting you click a link or download something.
Compromised/Stolen Devices (33%): Devices without sufficient security safeguards in place can be vulnerable.
Credential Theft (30%): Hackers obtain usernames and passwords to access accounts. Having strong, unique passwords and multi-factor authentication to access accounts can help prevent unauthorized access.

Strategies to safeguard your business

No matter the size of your business, you can take practical steps to help defend against cyberattacks, which will save your company time, effort and money in the long term.

Here are 5 tactics that should be on your cyber defense checklist:

1. Educate your employees about security best practices

Make sure everyone in your business understands common cyberthreats, and is well trained on how to identify typical phishing and social engineering scams. In addition, help remote employees secure their home networks by offering training on setting up secure Wi-Fi.

2. Keep business and personal devices separate

Especially as many employees continue working remotely all or part of the time, reduce security risks by emphasizing the importance of everyone in your organization using only company devices for work purposes.

3. Beef up security measures for employee accounts and network access

Require only strong, unique passwords for employee access, as well as implementing multi-factor authentication practices for an extra layer of protection.

4. Get a unified software platform for security and patch management

Make sure your entire system is more secure by using a single, effective software platform that can manage identity, access and devices in the cloud — as well as managing security upgrades and patching. For example, JumpCloud offers IT admins at any business the ability to control and manage a wide variety of configurations with Zero Trust security to secure your organization.

JumpCloud provides an easy, frictionless solution for small to medium-sized business requirements to hedge against increasing cyberthreats, with several security features to help your business improve its security posture, including:

Multi-Factor Authentication
Single Sign-On
Device Management
Zero-Trust
Patch Management

Even better, JumpCloud lets customers use all premium features for free, for up to 10 users and 10 devices.

“Any business owner today needs to be aware of and take active measures to protect against cyberattacks,” said Benjamin Garrison, technical evangelist at JumpCloud. “For any size business, JumpCloud provides an effective solution, all in one place.”

5. Monitor for security breaches

In case of a cyberattack, your business will recover and overcome the loss much more quickly the earlier you can detect the problem. Set up a system for frequent monitoring of your network for any potential breaches, and keep working to defend against them with regular updates and trainings for all staff.

Don’t wait until a security breach happens to get serious about cyber defense. Being proactive about the security of your business will be well worth it to defend everything you’ve created.

JumpCloud gives IT admins a single cloud directory platform to secure all their users in any device environment, wherever work happens. Visit JumpCloud.com to learn more.

Franchisor Focus: The One Responsibility of Franchising Too Many Franchisors Overlook

Posted on March 21, 2022March 22, 2022 by Franchise Strategist

The relationship between a franchisor and their franchisees touches every aspect of a franchise operation ranging from developing the franchise system to franchisees participating in aggressive price promotions. A positive relationship can enable success while poor franchise relations can thwart it.

Franchisor Focus: The One Responsibility of Franchising Too Many Franchisors Overlook
Courtesy of Ed Teixeira

As I consider subject matter for my franchise blogs it’s sometimes challenging to come up with a stimulating topic. Because I direct content mainly to franchisors, it’s important to provide helpful and constructive information. Whether as a franchisee, franchisor executive or providing operational advice to franchisors I’ve always advocated that a franchisor should have a strong franchise relations strategy. Certain franchisors are familiar with the clichés often attributed to fostering a climate of positive franchise relations, including having profitable franchisees, responding promptly to their emails, telephone calls and requests for assistance. Unfortunately, some franchisors don’t give franchise relations the attention it deserves.

In 1992 I was fortunate to contribute to the first IFA Franchise Relations booklet, so I decided to review articles written by franchisor executives. Although the booklet was published 29 years ago, in terms of franchise relationship management very little has changed. The same principles and policies that were advocated then remain the same. No other component of the franchise business model has remained constant.

Here are four questions that franchisors need answered to appraise the state of their franchise relations.

Are the franchisees profitable?
Whether using Key Performance Indicators (“KPIs”) or franchisee financial statements to measure franchisee financial and operational performance, this is an important responsibility of every franchisor. Rather than obtaining an answer to this question many franchisors focus on identifying the franchisees that aren’t profitable. The problem with this approach is that the franchisor lacks key financial and operational data that pertain to their entire system and individual franchisees.

Are franchisee customers satisfied with the products or services?
Franchisors should have a method for obtaining franchise feedback regarding the level of customer satisfaction. Whether using customer satisfaction surveys, franchisee focus groups or surveying franchisees its important information that should be gathered. This data benefits the franchisor and its franchisees.

What are our franchisee competitors doing?
Franchisors that display an interest in the behavior of their franchisee competitors will receive high marks from their franchisees. Many franchisors rely upon their franchisees for competitive information, however when the franchisor plays an active role in this process it benefits the franchise system and enhances franchise relations.

Is the franchisor doing the best it can?
Whether using a third-party firm to survey franchisees or doing their own survey, a franchisor must have a method for measuring their franchisee satisfaction levels. When the results are tabulated, the franchisor will know which areas if any can negatively impact franchise relations and may require attention.

Despite the countless changes that have occurred in the franchise industry over the years, one constant is the importance of franchise relationship management. Franchisors should be focused on evaluating and managing their relationship with their franchisees.

About the Author: Ed Teixeira
Ed Teixeira is a recognized franchise expert with over 35 years experience in the franchise industry. He has served as a corporate executive for franchise firms in the retail, manufacturing, healthcare and technology industries and was a franchisee of a multi-million dollar home healthcare franchise. Ed is the author of Franchising From the Inside Out and The Franchise Buyers Manual. He has participated in the CEO Magazine Roundtable Meetings with business leaders from around the country and spoke at a number of venues including the International Franchise Expo and the Chinese Franchise Association in Shanghai, China. Over the course of his career, Ed has been involved with over 1,000 franchise locations and launched franchise concepts from existing business models. Ed can be contacted at 631-246-5782 or [email protected].

Five Skills for Successfully Turning Ideas Into Reality

Posted on October 20, 2021October 20, 2021 by Franchise Strategist

5 skills for successfully turning ideas into reality

(BPT) – People across the world have tackled immense challenges since the start of the global COVID-19 pandemic, from social isolation to financial burdens, in a distanced and digitally enabled world. As a result, many important projects were put on hold. But at the same time, many people took the opportunity to make bigger and better plans — and are ready to make these dreams a reality.

In a recent global survey conducted by Project Management Institute (PMI), nearly four in five consumers (79%) said they consider 2021 to be a “do-over,” and an even greater number, 86%, plan to work harder this year to bring their ideas to life.

“The pandemic disrupted countless 2020 plans, but many leaders and innovative thinkers used the time wisely to map out their next moves,” says Mike DePrisco, chief operating officer for PMI. “As more communities and organizations across the globe cautiously turn to recovery and revival, teams are increasingly focused on turning their stalled projects into reality.”

But turning ideas into reality doesn’t come easy. Whether you’re looking to level up in your career, kick-start a new project or create a completely new business, PMI outlines the power skills you need to continue advancing:

1. Communication

Effective communication maximizes success and minimizes risk. It involves not only conducting outward-bound communication, but also listening, taking feedback, understanding nonverbal cues, and interpreting what is meant versus what is said. In a team setting, communication helps team members stay on the same page as they work toward success.

2. Empathy

Empathy allows team members to build greater trust and connections — with each other and with other stakeholders — by helping them understand the wide range of people and work styles they encounter. Empathy also strengthens teams by helping team members feel appreciated and heard.

3. Collaborative leadership

A collaborative leadership style is more effective in inspiring and bringing team members together in pursuit of a shared vision and common goals. Collaborative leaders recognize that each member of the team has something to contribute — in executing a plan and in helping shape objectives.

4. Innovative mindset

An innovative mindset ensures teams are applying new ideas and fresh perspectives to how they organize work and address the myriad obstacles that emerge when turning ideas into reality. An innovative mindset also allows teams to remain agile and pivot more quickly in the face of challenges.

5. Purpose-driven goals

Having a for-purpose orientation helps minimize risks and ensures the organization’s values and commitment to social good are infused in all aspects of project design and implementation. Clear goals also empower changemakers to use their skills to bring about positive social change within teams, companies and communities.

To learn more about these skills and effective project management, visit PMI .org/Make Reality, a virtual hub of inspiration with the tools you need to get started on your next big, bold idea. Find support and inspiration from changemakers across the globe turning their ideas into reality; determine your changemaker persona; and view PMI courses that help you take your project or idea and Make Reality, such as KICKOFF, a free, 45-minute digital course and toolkit that guides learners through the basics of project management with bite-sized content and downloadable templates they can quickly implement on the job.

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Learn more about turning your idea into a nationwide franchise click here: www.franchisegrtowthsolutions.com

FLAWED STRATEGIC THINKING THAT DRIVES SERIOUS FRANCHISE LEADS TO DISQUALIFY YOU

Posted on October 19, 2021October 20, 2021 by Franchise Strategist

Flawed Strategic Thinking That Drives Serious Franchise Leads to Disqualify You

By Paul Keiser
I Show Franchise Business Developers and Brokers How to Automatically Find Serious Leads

The leading reason we’ve found causing serious leads to disqualify brands and brokers from consideration is a lack of strategic thought, time and attention given to 21st Century aspects of franchise business development. As an industry, franchise business development methods are mired in tactics over 25-years old. It takes serious reflection and change to adapt to emerging 21st Century franchise buyer behavior and their very different expectations.

Here are five inter-related company cultural and strategic issues that, if ignored, cause serious leads to disqualify you from consideration.

Recognize Franchise Business Development is a Business within a Business
As they begin to scale, franchisors and brokers often struggle with business development. That’s because the knowledge and experience to do it well aren’t part of the operations or customer excellence skill sets of many owners and investors.

Franchise business development is actually a business within the larger franchise business with different needs. Recognizing this, and then properly staffing, funding and executing around a set of realistic goals can put you on a sustainable pathway to success.

Unfortunately, too many try to fix a faltering franchise business development program with band-aids; neglecting the thought needed to find the root causes of problems, not just surface symptoms.

Why…because it’s easy. Tactical solutions make everyone feel good. In fact, re-imagining a 21st Century version of franchise business development requires digging deeper.

To meet the challenge, three strategic areas critical to franchise business development must harmonize:

Storytelling
Finding and Nurturing Serious Leads
Intelligent Pipeline Management
Think of each of these areas as a leg of a stool. If the legs aren’t aligned, then the stool teeters and totters making it useless.

Do nothing and watch as serious leads disqualify you.

Inertia Kills Brands and Brokers
Many brands and brokers become paralyzed by the breadth and depth of change needed to adapt to the changing macro environment of franchise business development. The smaller the brand or broker the more daunting the challenges.

Smaller brands and brokers aren’t often blessed with tens of thousands of dollars laying around to “experiment” or try something new; so, fear stifles decision-making.

But time kills deals. Time also kills brands and brokers unwilling to adapt. It’s time to step up and either hire or develop the skills to upgrade franchise business development methodologies. The market isn’t waiting. Brands and brokers that grab an early mover advantage will prosper; while laggards will fall by the wayside.

Do nothing and watch serious leads disqualify you

Lack of Expertise
The skill sets needed to address both franchise business development technology and people’s evolving behavior doesn’t necessarily reside in most franchisors and brokers, who are often solo practitioners. Many franchisors have consumer marketing pros or agencies supporting franchisees. However, these same highly-talented people are inexperienced in the “black arts” of franchise business development and the psychological journey a serious lead embarks on in the Internet Age. You hired them to drive traffic into your stores and restaurants; not recruit franchisees. And likely they do a very good job for you.

Giving franchise business development insufficient support or forcing business developers to work with meager lead generation budgets or whatever software is around or cheap is commonplace. That’s a lazy approach and speaks to a lack of understanding of how to successfully grow a franchise business development powerhouse.

Ownership and leadership need to step up and either acquire or outsource the knowledge needed to reliably scale the business.

Do nothing and watch serious leads disqualify you.

The Internet Upends Traditional Notions of Franchisee Recruitment
Every generation from 1995 forward has been reshaped by the Internet. Consumers complete almost 75% of brand research for high-end goods and services on the web before making a call or a visit. They expect transparency. Your storytelling needs to meet a higher standard of excellence or these serious leads will just move on. So, ask yourself, do you tease or hide information or do you educate on your franchise business development website?

Text messaging has rapidly changed the franchise business development communication landscape. Today’s serious leads comfortably text back and forth with your business developer before engaging. What does that do to old-fashioned “dialing for dollars” models? Which leads are more engaged and serious?

Your franchise website is now expected to tell your whole story. It’s not just a brochure anymore or a landing page to get a form filled out. You’re forced to dig deeper to articulate your competitive differentiation. A test: if you can put your name on a competitor’s website, then something’s wrong with your story.

All brands are coming to grips with ever rising lead generation costs. Can we harness the vast potential of social media and online advertising to create affordable serious leads prospect? Can these newer channels become a game changer or are they just one more money drain? How do these leads convert into your pipeline compared to other channels?

Do nothing and watch serious leads disqualify you.

Leads Now Have the Power

Leads now control the research process. In fact, 75% of their research is already done before first contact. Serious leads expect complete and transparent information about brands. So, a solid story and a dedicated franchise business development online presence are now table stakes with serious leads. These serious leads engage when they’re ready; not before. So encourage them to do that by delivering a brand education experience that gets them emotionally and rationally invested in your franchise opportunity.

Do nothing and watch serious leads disqualify you.

Franchise Pipeline Solutions (FPS) helps new and emerging franchise brands find their most serious leads using an integrated pipeline management system. It combines enterprise-class CRM with multi-channel Marketing Automation, 1:1 and bulk text messaging, behavioral scoring and auto call scheduling. Our proven approach has been in worldwide use for over eight years.

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About the Author:
Paul Keiser has over 40 years of experience franchise development, social media and online lead generation, email nurture, marketing automation and brand storytelling. Today he makes his living giving precious time back to franchise brand business developers and franchise brokers by helping them find serious leads so they focus on more of the right people and do more deals.

FRANCHISORS AND FRANCHISEES MUST LEARN TO DEAL WITH CHANGE

Posted on October 18, 2021October 20, 2021 by Franchise Strategist

Franchisors and Franchisees Must Learn to Deal with Change

By Ed Teixeira

FRANCHISING, — Ed Teixeira is Chief Operating Officer of Franchise Grade and was the founder and President of FranchiseKnowHow, L.L.C. a franchise consulting firm.

If there is one thing that the Pandemic taught us, especially those in the franchise industry, is that certain events both large and small require change. It is a given that the recent Pandemic represents extraordinary change having last occurred 100 years ago. Franchise brands face frequent challenges requiring change including, a formidable new competitor, franchisee resistance to certain promotional programs, declining franchise system growth or a public relations problem like when the Subway Foot Long Sub, was found by a customer to be less than a foot long. When these situations arise, franchisors and franchisees must be equipped to implement change to meet the challenge.

Expect that franchisors will be required to implement changes to their franchise program from time to time some minor and some major. When a franchisor wants to make a change, based upon the magnitude of the change, it should be communicated to the franchisees before the change is implemented providing advance notice.

* Using the franchise advisory council as a sounding board

* Giving franchisees the courtesy of knowing about the change

* Providing the franchisee community an opportunity to respond

* Enlist select franchisees to help mold the change and avoid a confrontation

Some changes are routine in nature and can be implemented as per an existing policy. For example, a revision or clarification to a procedure in the franchise operations manual. Major changes that may have a direct impact on franchisees demand special attention. In certain cases, the change may not be that significant, but rather the perception by franchisees is that the change is the beginning of “more to come.”

Examples of Important Changes Include:

1.Changes to franchise agreements that significantly revamp contract terms, including renewal terms, royalty fees and default conditions. These changes may cause particular concern among franchisees that will be looking to renew their franchise agreement.

2. Changes in marketing or advertising programs which would represent a major departure from the current program.

3. Changes in the direction of the franchise strategy that involve applying resources to a new venture or business.

One of the most effective methods to establish and implement a major change is to involve the Franchise Advisory Council or marketing committee which includes franchisee and company representatives. These committees allow for a dialogue between the franchisor and representative franchisees which can help to foster positive franchise relations and establish a buy-in from existing franchisees.

When franchisors implement a major change that lacks franchisee involvement or advance notice it can be a recipe for trouble. To maintain positive franchise relations before implementing an important change the franchisor should gauge how the change could affect franchisees by obtaining feedback from franchisor field staff and select franchisees.

If feedback indicates a strong resistance to the change, the franchisor should consider the situation, and avoid unnecessary confrontations by being flexible. Change is an important aspect of all relationships especially in the world of franchising. It is important that the franchisor and franchisees conduct business within a climate of change that is positive and considers the needs and objectives of both parties.
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About the Author: Ed Teixeira
Ed Teixeira is a recognized franchise expert with over 35 years experience in the franchise industry. He has served as a corporate executive for franchise firms in the retail, manufacturing, healthcare and technology industries and was a franchisee of a multi-million dollar home healthcare franchise. Ed is the author of Franchising From the Inside Out and The Franchise Buyers Manual. He has participated in the CEO Magazine Roundtable Meetings with business leaders from around the country and spoke at a number of venues including the International Franchise Expo and the Chinese Franchise Association in Shanghai, China. Over the course of his career, Ed has been involved with over 1,000 franchise locations and launched franchise concepts from existing business models. Ed can be contacted at 631-246-5782 or [email protected].
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FRANCHISE YOUR BUSINESS: www.franchisegrowthsolutions.com