Page 136 - Entrepreneur - USA (January - February 2020)

THE FRANCHISE

as they transition from running a single
location to multiple-unit management.
The best franchisors will institution-
alize the hockey stick effect by working
with franchisees from day one to begin
growing their businesses. A brand’s field
support team should not just be police-
men, looking out for errors or missteps
made by underperforming locations.
They should also be focused on identi-
fying and helping their best franchisees
expand, working directly with owners
to develop annual business plans, devel-
oping their management team, building
their balance sheet for access to further
credit, and adding the resources neces-
sary to grow.

THE LESSON IS SIMPLE: Without thriving
franchisees, no franchise system can
last. When a brand puts the franchi-
sees’ interests first, it will attract the
kind of raving fans that build successful
companies.
There is a significant correlation
between successful franchise systems
and good franchisee relations. And
while it is certainly easier to keep suc-
cessful franchisees happy, it takes more
than that. It takes trust. It takes leader-
ship. It takes transparency. And most of
all, it takes communication.
Good franchisee relations start and
end with good communication. In our
digital age, that’s easier to do than
ever—and it comes with benefits, for
sure—but in the end, people have rela-
tionships with other people, not their
computers. So focus on building rela-
tionships in person, the same way you
build relationships in your own life.
And remember, while the franchise
relationship is contractual in nature,
if either side is ever forced to bring out
the contract and cite chapter and verse,
they have already lost. The best fran-
chise contracts are the ones you put in a
drawer and never look at again. Let that
be your starting point—and go build
your success together.

Excerpted from Franchise Your
Business: The Guide to Employing
the Greatest Growth Strategy
Ever (Entrepreneur Press, 2016).