A franchisor has the critical role of ensuring that the right individuals are entrusted with their business’s brand, reputation, products, and services. The franchisor also must make sure those franchisees are capable of thriving. However, franchise operations can be difficult for newer franchisors to understand without experience. How exactly are franchisor responsibilities defined, in detail? How can franchisors meet them confidently and exceed expectations?
Communication With Franchisees
It may take some experience before a franchisor can understand how to manage franchise owners. It is one thing to successfully develop and understand a successful brick-and-mortar franchise model, but successfully teaching those workings to franchisees is a separate skill. A franchisor must effectively communicate what is expected of the franchisee and his unit, what degree of freedom they have to act independently, and how to handle any common issues.
Such communication can only be done through regular interaction. Each franchisee operates a store in his own location, with his own employees, and is his own unique person, which naturally lends itself to quirks. Franchisor responsibilities largely come down to understanding how each franchise is unique and how to dole out resources, assistance, and instruction. For a rapidly expanding business, keeping up with this largely depends on an effective software suite of tools to handle communication and information that is far simpler and more efficient than analog methods.
Delivering the Means for Success
Franchisor responsibilities also include trusting and empowering franchisees with the tools needed to fully grasp the business model, their own responsibilities, and the system at large. Passionate and talented people with little experience in running a business can still make fantastic franchisees. They can learn from the mistakes you and your fellow corporate members already discovered and rocket into success for you. However, you must give them the means to do so.
In addition to hiring a prepared franchisee, you as a franchisor must also be prepared to deliver all the information and tools he or she will need for the startup phase, successful quarterly operation, and handling emergencies. For this purpose, a unified and user-friendly software suite will be incredibly helpful.
Maintaining a Forward-Thinking Mindset
Ultimately, it is the franchisor’s role to outline and execute innovations, new tactics, and other methods of staying competitive. A good franchisee will follow through on these objectives, but it is not his role to find such opportunities for you. As a franchisor, it is imperative that you receive organized reports on how your franchise units are performing and glean new insights and plans from them.
Deciding what products to push or hold back on, monitoring trends in customer preferences, and climbing through the startup phase to dominate the local market all fall under the franchisor’s responsibilities. However, a franchisor cannot act blindly, and every decision should be backed up by data and insight.
Every franchisor wants to see new business units succeed and lend the capital and means to expand. Corporate and franchisor responsibilities are vast, but meeting them doesn’t have to be complicated. With an all-in-one project management software from Synuma, franchisors get everything they and their employees need, from royalty calculation software to tracking prospects and costs. Synuma offers organization and convenience at a price that makes sense for a limited tech budget.
Image via Flickr by sam_churchill
