7 Takeaways from the Franchisor Springboard ConferenceĀ
Oct 22, 2024
A couple of weeks ago, I attended Franchise Springboard, an annual event for emerging and re-emerging franchisors. It was my first time at that conference, and I was really surprised by the conversation around multi-unit growth, responsible franchising, franchise-selling trends, collaboration, and best practices in the franchisor-franchisee relationship.
Throughout this 3-day event, several topics kept coming up in the different sessions. While many were focused on franchisors, a lot of them were just as applicable for franchisees, especially those related to growing a multi-unit organization.
To help you stay informed about current franchise trends and key discussions within our industry, I'm sharing seven of those ongoing topics in this blog post. These are relevant not only to franchisors but also to multi-unit franchisees who are looking to expand their enterprises. I hope you find this information valuable!
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1. The importance of culture
Franchisors want to nurture a strong positive culture in their organizations and to do that, they are working on implementing policies and procedures to support their mission, vision, and values. This is crucial for sustaining the founding spirit of the company, especially as they continue to grow and open locations further away from the headquarters.
The same thing happens for franchisees who are opening multiple units. Keeping a close relationship with your managers and ensuring the units run under the same culture and with a high level of excellence may become more complex as you grow. That's why building that strong culture of values, mission, and vision is so important. What does that mean? It means that you, your leaders, and your people live that culture every day.
2. Open communication
Another recurring topic in the Franchisor Springboard was the importance of keeping franchisees informed. This includes letting them know not only what's going on with the company and new programs, initiatives, innovations, or marketing campaigns that are happening but also really sharing with them anything that might affect them as participants of the franchise industry, and even some sort of guidance as to what to do about these issues.
- The more the franchisors communicate, the more the franchisees will feel included and have a stronger sense of belonging to the organization.
Having a very strategic communication plan to stay connected also applies to multi-unit franchisees. The people in the field, the unit managers, and the district managers want to know what's happening. But don’t overload them with information. Be consistent and give them the information they need to feel part of the company, be informed, and be able to act upon any significant issue that may come up in the units.
3. Franchisor-franchisee relationship
Government requirements, regulations, and joint employer liability laws are driving a wedge between franchisors and franchisees. And, as much as the brand owners want to do more for their franchisees, this scenario is handcuffing them from being able to do more.
To compensate for those limitations, franchisors are trying to build a strong relationship outside those rules. Some even invite their franchisees to advisory boards or committees. That way, they are closing the gap between them, and their corporate team members can better understand what the franchisees are going through in the day-to-day operations and even receive unique ideas and feedback to help franchisors succeed.
Franchisees also have to build relationships with their field team and leaders, especially if they are growing. Think about it! You probably had a close relationship with the unit manager and the team members in your first units. They knew you, and you knew them; you could lead and inspire them to do better, and they followed you.
But as you open more units, your presence in each store will be sporadic, more so if you hire a District Manager. And eventually, people won't know who you are and what you're all about. Then, those relationships erode. That’s why making an effort to cultivate them is going to be critical.
Be present, visit your units, meet people in person, and shake hands with them! Let them know who they're working for, what you stand for, and how much you want them to succeed and do well.
Keep learning: Cultivating a Fruitful Relationship with Your Franchisor
4. Embracing technology
There has not been any conference I attended in the past couple of years that didn’t have a particular session on artificial intelligence. However, even before AI, there were always tech meetings because there’s no question that technology allows us to be more efficient.
Franchisors are actively seeking resources and platforms that enable people to achieve more with less, at a lower cost, while also improving their work-life balance. This also translates to franchisees because using technology can help them be more efficient and reduce expenses.
The consensus was very straightforward: if you are not embracing technology, you better get into it! You must embrace it and learn to use it to your advantage.
Explore what platforms and software are available and how they can help your business be more successful. For example, you can:
- Upgrade your point-of-sale system.
- Use inventory management software.
- Implement digital marketing tools.
- Develop a dashboard to followup easily an easy follow-up on your key performance indicators so you can see how the units are performing.
- Use AI for your marketing, internal communications, and employee activities and actions.
But before you commit to any, understand how they can positively impact your productivity, results, and overall organization.
Keep learning: The Power of Business Texting: How & Where to Use It
5. Training
Another ongoing challenge that most owners discussed at this year’s Franchisor Springboard was training. On the one hand, it is costly, but not training people can be deathly. There are also law limitations on what they can train people in and what they can’t teach (remember: they can only provide training on how to duplicate the brand, the product, service, image, and marketing).
Adapting to how people learn nowadays is also tricky, as well as figuring out how to communicate better, what platforms to use, how to reach out to people, and how to manage turnover along the way. They also discussed what they can and can’t overcome with education and support.
- I'm glad this conversation is happening because there is not enough training in the franchise world. Being one of the leading organizations that provides such training, I know how much there is a need for it, and I 100% agree with that.
I love seeing how the franchisors are committed to doing a better job at this and looking for solutions for their franchisees; I think it is fantastic!
Of course, this applies to franchisees as well. You are responsible for developing the team members and training shift leaders, unit managers, assistant managers, and district managers so they can have the leadership and management skills they need to be successful in their roles. This aspect is something that you should be focused on.
6. Responsible franchising
Another topic that kept coming up in the Franchisor Springboard event, which I've been hearing about for almost a year, is the concept of responsible franchising. This movement intends to hold franchisors accountable, ensuring their business model is proven before they go into franchising and that they can provide ongoing support to keep the business positive and profitable throughout the organization.
- This is a great concept, don’t get me wrong. But in my opinion, this should be common sense. Nobody should be franchising a business model unless it is done responsibly!
Of course, this discussion is more for franchisors since they're the ones who decide when they're going to franchise. And even though they cannot control what the franchisees do in their area or how they manage their cash, they must ensure they have a proven model that works and produces positive results across the organization. And, if something is not working out, correct the situation.
How does this apply to franchisees? If you are investing in a proven model, you must take responsibility as a business owner and educate yourself to get the knowledge and develop the skills you need to have a profitable business.
You must understand that the franchisor cannot control how you manage the business. That’s up to you. If you lack the business acumen to turn the revenue into profit and don’t know how to manage your team and your expenses properly, do something about it!
The responsibility to become the best leader and the best business owner that you can be lies with you. Don’t wait for somebody else to come and rescue you.
Keep learning: 4 Key Learnings Every Franchisee Needs to Know
7. Careful selection of partners
How to better select franchisees? What profile are franchisors looking for? What requirements are they considering? How can they support them? These topics are critical for the success of any franchise business, so of course, they were also part of the conversation during the Franchisor Springboard event.
The same applies to franchisees regarding the right selection of their leaders, even more so when hiring the district manager. You may be a great leader, have a great culture, and have the best intentions and thoughts. But if you don't pick the right people for the leadership roles, you could affect one unit or the whole district, as well as the work experience, the results, and the team performance.
To prevent that from happening, determine the type of team members and leaders you want for your organization. When you make the final selection, make sure the candidates are the right fit and align with the characteristics you are looking for.
If you do that, you’ll have a better chance of success, just as the franchisor increases their probability of success if they choose the right franchisee for their brand.
Don’t miss: Strategies for Staffing and Talent Acquisition | An Interview with Tom Spry
These were seven ongoing topics that centered the conversation during the Franchisor Springboard conference this year. All of them, as you can see, apply to franchisees.
I was gratefully surprised by this event, and I'm definitely going to go back to hear and learn more about what franchisors are working on to be better, more responsible, and more prosperous and how they are helping their franchisees be more successful, too.
At the end of the day, that's what the American Franchise Academy exists. Our purpose is to protect the American dream of business ownership through franchising, and we work every day to help and support franchisees to be successful in the long run.
We do that through three unique, elite training programs:
- COMMAND: a 12-month intensive training and group coaching program for multi-unit franchisees that provides step-by-step management systems to take control of your franchise.
- LEAD: a 10-week program that trains district managers to lead and oversee operations across multiple units effectively.
- MANAGE: a 4-week program that sets unit managers, assistant managers, and single-unit franchisees up for success with leadership and management skills to keep the franchise profitable.
I hope that you found value in this message and that it made you think about the opportunities you can explore to grow, scale, and thrive with your franchise business.
Reflections:
- How your people behave and the work environment they experience are in alignment with the culture you want to create?
- Are you using technology to be more efficient and better manage your business?
- How are you training your team members and leaders so they can be successful and achieve the expected results?
- What are you doing to be a responsible business owner?
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