When you are purchasing a franchise, you are most likely going into the deal hoping to be provided with support, benefits, and systems from the franchisor. When signing on as a franchisee, here are 5 things you should expect from the franchisor.
- Leadership and a system to follow. To be willing to follow the franchisors systems, the franchisee must trust them, and trust in the success and integrity of their business practices. Clear thought out plans for all aspects of the business should be provided and/or laid out for you as a potential franchisee. This can include suggestions and/or best practices for things like training, marketing, back office administration practices, etc. If there are certain standards, product wise or business wise, that are to remain consistent across the board, this should also be presented to you.
- Understanding of the unique goals of each franchisee. As a franchisor, it is important to be aware of, and understand what each franchisee wants for their business – short term, and long term. Success may look and feel different for each franchisee/person, so it is important to have this conversation and not just assume that what success looks like to you is also how it looks to each franchisee. Since aspirations and goals can often change, it is important to consistently review and set goals.
- Brand protection. A reputable brand takes quite some time and effort to build, but can be ruined all too quickly. As the franchisor, it is important to provide security to all of your other franchisees by making sure, not only you as the franchisor are individually protecting the brand, but that you are monitoring the reputation of your franchisees, and making sure to sell your brand to the right people. Franchisees are looking to you as the ultimate protector of the brand, and hope that if an issue arises with a franchisee, risking the brand reputation, that you will step in. It is not the franchisee’s responsibility to make sure that the overall brand remains reputable and thriving. Their responsibility is to maintain the integrity of the brand within their division only. However, if a mistake is made within any division and/or reputation is compromised in any division, it will jeopardize and have an impact on every division and the brand as a whole. Franchisees rely on the franchisor and their support to monitor and make sure that this does not happen.
- Support. This is huge for franchisees. Part of the pros of owning a franchise vs. starting your own business is the support of other business owners that know the business and system, particularly the franchisors. As a franchisee, you should feel that you are able to call the franchisor with questions, concerns, or updates at any point in your business. Also, meetings should be held often with the franchisor discussing numbers, budgets, campaigns, recruiting and other aspects of your business. Campaigns, branding, graphics, marketing material, branded clothing, etc. created and/or used by the headquarter division should also be made available to the franchisees, should they wish to run similar campaigns.
- Continued growth of the business. It is the franchisor’s responsibly to make sure that the overall brand, and business continues to thrive and grow. Leadership is key in remaining a profitable business and achieving continued growth. It is not the franchisee’s responsibility to make sure that the overall brand is continuing on an upswing. Flexibility, and adapting to the times within the overall system and business structure is key in continued growth. Setting new goals consistently not only within the headquarters, but also franchise will help to keep the business on track and at a steady upswing.
At The Brothers that just do Gutters, our franchisors provide a large amount of support for each franchisee and genuinely care about their success. If you want to learn more about the support provided by franchisors, Ken and Ryan, visit our support page HERE.