Franchises are typically very successful businesses, very quickly. Why not take an interest in what they do well in order to improve your company’s practices?
In fact, the success rate of franchisees is around 2 times higher than that of independent businesses. This is logical, since they benefit from a proven recipe and the help of a variety of experts.
As an entrepreneur or manager, you can take inspiration from what franchises are doing to fine-tune your ways of doing things and improve your organization’s practices.
I’ve put together 8 tips inspired by the practices and methods used in many franchises.
1. Using the right tools
Most of the time, a company’s franchisees use a variety of tried-and-tested tools to simplify management and operations.
Generally, these tools are offered by the parent company, which has first taken the time to find, test and choose the best tools.
As a manager or entrepreneur, you can also use the same strategy to simplify and automate your tasks, from employee management to project management or even the creation of your marketing content.
For example, to make your employee management easier, get employee management software. This will enable you to centralize all your tasks in one place, such as creating schedules, approving leave requests, communicating with employees, tracking employee attendance, managing employee records and so on.
By using tools that help you structure the way you do things, you’ll reduce the number of possible errors. This will in return help you attain greater efficiency and productivity.
2. Standardizing processes
Franchisees are generally very successful in their new venture, since they benefit from the help and advice of a company with a proven track record. Another reason for their success is the standardization of their processes.
Whether it’s training a new employee, adding new products to the store, changing the menu or the onboarding process, any task is explained from start to finish, and the franchisee can follow the recipe to the letter. Success is therefore guaranteed, as the method has been tried and tested over and over again.
You can easily apply this same principle if you are rigorous in your management methods.
Take the time to write down your ways of doing things so that you can share your knowledge and processes. This way, as your team grows, it will be easier to explain how you operate to new team members.
Standardizing your processes also means being transparent and fair with your employees. At first glance, it may seem a daunting task, but eventually you’ll gain in efficiency and productivity. You’ll then be able to concentrate on more innovative and creative tasks.
Standardizing your employee training and onboarding will also ensure that all your employees are on the same page. If your company operates in an industry where employee turnover can be high, such as the restaurant industry, you’ll also save tremendous amounts of time without sacrificing training quality.
If you can go on vacation with your head clear, without everything falling apart, you’ll know you’ve succeeded. The ultimate goal is to be able to give someone who doesn’t know your business access to all your documents, so that they can operate without a hitch. Don’t hesitate to put everything on paper to keep a record.
3. Focusing on customer service
If you offer good customer service, your customers will be much more loyal. You can offer the best products, but if your customer service is poor, you won’t be able to retain your customers.
That’s why it’s essential to train your employees well, so that they understand what kind of service you want to offer. Even offer refresher training if necessary.
In my humble opinion, the thing that will have the greatest impact on the quality of service provided by your employees is their level of job satisfaction. Quite simply, the happier and more fulfilled an employee is at work, the more likely they are to do their best work. This has a direct impact on the customer experience.
Make sure you offer an interesting and stimulating work environment. Be attentive to your employees’ needs and make people management a priority. Above all, make sure there are always enough employees on the schedule so that they are never overworked or over-stressed. This will certainly improve your customer service.
4. Measuring KPIs rigorously
One thing franchises do particularly well is to track their performance indicators rigorously, for example in an HR dashboard. In this way, managers are able to quickly identify areas for improvement and know whether they are on track to achieve their objectives.
Decision-making is therefore more informed and based on real data. Tracking performance indicators also makes it possible to create detailed reports for future reference.
Here are a few examples of performance indicators to monitor:
- Employee turnover rate
- Satisfaction rate
- eNPS
- Number of new customers
- Number of prospects
- Sales figures
- Total payroll
- Labor costs
- Absenteeism rate
- Company sales
- Fixed costs
- Annual revenue
5. Clarifying roles
In a franchise, each role is well defined and has a complete and detailed job description. This management practice ensures that each role is clear, and that each employee’s responsibilities are known to everyone.
As a manager, it’s your responsibility to present job descriptions and make sure employees understand them. By making this practice systematic, you’ll also simplify your recruitment process when an employee leaves your organization.
If you don’t know where to start, use a job description template and adapt it to your situation.
6. Building a strong corporate brand
What most companies that adopt the franchise model generally have in common is a strong brand image with their customers. As a result, customers quickly recognize the company and know that the quality of service or products will always be the same.
Get inspired by their practices and take the time to think about your brand image. Define your values, your mission, your flagship products or services, and take the time to create a visual identity.
The more rigorously and systematically you can offer your products or services, the more easily you’ll be able to achieve your objectives and build customer loyalty at the same time.
7. Investing in marketing
Most franchises don’t need to worry about their marketing, since the parent company invests heavily in it for them. As a result, their marketing is high quality and consistently done.
In a company, marketing is often one of the first expenses to be cut in difficult times. And yet, it contributes directly to the brand’s image and helps bring in more customers.
Marketing initiatives usually take a long time to pay off. So it’s essential to persevere, even in the toughest times. Good marketing strategies always pay off in the end.
To ensure you make the right choices, surround yourself with experts who can advise you.
8. Choosing business location carefully
Most franchises have very strict rules to ensure the success of their franchisees. In particular, they have very well-defined criteria for the location of their franchises.
Follow the same reasoning and take the time to carefully evaluate a location before deciding to open your business there. That way, you’ll have every chance of success.
Here are a few criteria to consider before choosing a location:
- Parking availability
- Neighborhood demographics
- Other neighborhood characteristics
- Work planned by the city over the next few years
- Competing businesses in the vicinity
The location of a business can have a huge influence on its success.
Be inspired by the success of others
There’s nothing wrong with taking inspiration from what others are doing well to improve your practices or strategies. So don’t hesitate to look at what other companies in your industry are doing, or even at what companies you look up to are doing.
