Investing in a successful franchise is a great way to gain hands-on business experience and build wealth. One of the keys to success is having a good franchise management system in place.
This article presents four franchise management tips that will help owners overcome the challenges of running a franchised business. From employees and customer satisfaction to choosing the right franchise management software, getting the fundamentals right is crucial to long-term success for both single franchise owners and multi-unit franchisees. While it’s usually necessary to adapt your franchise management system to local conditions and to meet individual needs, these tips can serve as a guide and to remind you that getting the foundation right is critical to franchise growth.
1.) Don’t Rush the Hiring Process
Think back to when you first decided to purchase a franchise and all the steps you took and research you did to choose the right one. With so many franchises to consider, it was a difficult job to try and find the perfect match in terms of how the franchisor’s offering fit with your skill set, interest, and passion. Use the same process for finding great employees. Franchise owners may have an endless supply of job applications, but a very small percentage of these applicants are actually the right match for your business. Take the time to screen resumes, narrow down applicants, and create a carefully crafted list of interview questions. Your interviewing should be thorough – not a quick 5-minute chat or something you “fit in” between other tasks. Set ample time aside for getting to know the candidates and even consider a second round of interviews to confirm your choice(s) and ensure they are just as interested in you as you are in them. When you take the hiring process seriously, you will not only end up with the best employees, but you will also be reinforcing your dedication to the success of your business to all current employees.
2.) Create a Supportive Career Environment
You’ll find that when you choose the right employees from the start, the rest of your franchise management system will run more smoothly. When you have employees you can trust and rely on, there is less chance you will feel the need to micromanage, which will build confidence within your team. With the right group of people, you’ll enjoy work more and take pleasure in teaching the team the business and watching them develop. Good employees will appreciate a supportive career environment. Creating this kind of encouraging atmosphere requires emphasis on both ‘support’ and ‘career.’ On the support side, make sure you are listening to your employees and encouraging them to give you their honest feedback. You want to draw them into your corporate culture, so they feel a connection to you and your business. On the career side, make sure to reward employee performance and give them clear information about their advancement opportunities – what’s available to them and how they can get there. Helping employees understand the steps to advancement helps them to view their current job as an important part of a career with an upward path, not just a paycheck for this week. Your commitment to maintaining a positive culture will pay off in increased loyalty and a better pool of applicants.
3.) Choose the Right Franchise Management Software
Both you and your franchisor are dependent on the financial success of your business, so it’s essential that the state of your business be continually monitored and analyzed. With the right franchise management software and reporting structure, business surveillance can be hassle-free and even fun. Having good visibility with regards to your company’s performance means you have the information you need to make good decisions and stay in control of your future.
Franchise management software is important for both single and multi-franchise owners. For single-location owners, franchise management software helps you easily gather and disseminate key financial information such as revenue, profit/loss, and expenses. With good financial management practices in place, your company will be in a good position to expand. For multi-unit and multi-concept franchisees, franchise management software should also play a key role in business operations. World-class franchise management software will allow you to keep tabs on the performance of individual locations and provide consolidated reporting and benchmarking to see how your entire enterprise is running as a whole.
Qvinci offers powerful, easy to use, and affordable financial reporting and franchise management software solutions. Qvinci can quickly consolidate your QuickBooks®, Xero®, and/or Excel® accounting files and generate financial reports including a P&L statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement, and AP/AR aging. These reports can be used to analyze your performance and improve your business. In addition, you can seamlessly share your finances with your franchisor to reduce your reporting burden. With intuitive graphs, a “snapshot” dashboard and the ability to benchmark your business performance against other similar businesses, Qvinci financial management software sets you up for success.
4.) Consider Customers in Your Franchise Management System
There is one final key component you don’t want to leave out of your franchise management system – your customers. While most businesses are or want to be customer-centric, customers are often temporarily forgotten or overlooked when making technology and other infrastructure decisions. It’s important the focus for you and your employees remain on customer service and satisfaction as you work to streamline your operations and build a solid franchise management system. Give customers the opportunity to provide feedback regarding changes that affect them so you can identify weak areas, catch issues early, and continuously improve the customer experience over time. When you’re ready to take it a step further, allow your customers to guide how the company interacts with the community, taking cues for them regarding causes you should support and other ways you can get involved and give back. Establishing a reputation as a good citizen demonstrates you value the customers who keep you in business.
Above all, remember that developing a solid franchise management system takes time. Make sure to build a solid infrastructure by including your employees, the right franchise management software, and your customers in your plans. A franchise management system that integrates customer focus, employee retention, and excellent financial oversight is sure to put you on the road to success.