The Art of Delegation: Best Practices for Franchisees
Aug 13, 2024
Last week, I was invited to the Text Request Talks Podcast hosted by Kenneth Burke. This podcast shares conversations with business leaders about how they make things happen. But as Kenneth and I discussed, business owners and multi-unit franchisees can’t make things happen if they don’t delegate.
- However, delegating tasks and responsibilities shouldn’t be done left and right to have more spare time.
Learning how and what to delegate can ease the workload on franchisees, allowing them to focus on growth and scale. It can also empower team members and their leaders. That’s why it should be done carefully and strategically.
These are some of the best practices for successful delegation I shared with Keeneth Burke’s audience. Feel free to watch the complete interview at the bottom of this page or on our YouTube channel.
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The Power of Systems, Processes, and Procedures
To start the conversation, Kenneth asked me what business owners were missing regarding profitability, leadership, and team management.
In my over 35 years of working with all types of franchisees, I have found that many of them don’t know that franchising is more than buying a franchise. When people enter the franchising world, they assume the franchisor will give them everything they need to succeed.
The truth is that the franchise owner only shares the brand systems that generate revenue. The other part of the formula—the business systems the franchisees must create— is what makes the profit.
Keep learning: This is Why Multi-Unit Franchisees Need Systems
Documentation is Key
Another problem is that some franchisees know how their businesses should operate, but they have it all in their minds and hearts. That means they have not written down their business’s day-to-day processes, procedures, and policies.
As a result, the knowledge is passed on verbally and through job shadowing rather than through a formal document and a strict and precise step-by-step process.
If people are not being properly trained, they won’t know how to behave or what to do when certain situations happen. And, if they don’t perform at their best on their own, you’ll never be able to fully separate from the operation.
To use Kenneth’s words: “You may know it in your head or in your heart, but can you articulate it, and can the people beneath you articulate it as well? If you aren’t able to do that, then you don’t have a system you can run”.
- You cannot become a successful multi-unit operator without documenting your business processes, procedures, and policies.
That’s the magic of franchising!
One brand can go from 1 to 1,000 units because it has clearly defined how to duplicate the product, service, and image, and everything is documented in the operations manual. That’s how it can open unit after unit and have them look the same.
You need to do the exact same thing when it comes to the management side of the business. You have to write down everything to reduce the possibility of confusion. That way, when you delegate a task or responsibility, your team members and leaders can replicate those business systems you have defined and execute them consistently, either equally or better than if you did it yourself.
An extra tip: get creative and document your business standards in photos, video, or audio. These multimedia resources will allow you to explain the correct way to do a procedure, run a process, or complete an activity.
Attract and Retain Great People
Delegating a project confidently is easy when you trust the people who will take over. But to achieve that, you must also have a magnet to attract top talent.
“Hiring becomes so critical here, and a lot of business leaders will say that their largest challenge is hiring and retaining good people, managers specifically”, Kenneth remarked. “Are there specific traits that have to be there no matter who you are or what you’re doing?”, he asked.
I would say there are two general things that you need to look for:
- Do they have the technical or hard skills to do the job? If not, is the job easy to teach, and can they learn them?
- Is there a culture fit? If that person doesn’t fit your culture, you’ll struggle to keep a positive work environment, potentially affecting the overall team behavior and damaging morale.
Don’t miss: The Six-step Process to Hire the Right People for your Franchise
You must be clear on what you want your culture to be and determine your mission, vision, and values. You also need to live this culture every day and train and teach it to your employees.
If you don’t go through this process, you might have the wrong hires and a high turnover.
But beware: usually, as a multi-unit franchisee, you won’t be doing the hiring. So, you need to define these aspects and transfer them to your managers so that they make the selection in alignment with what you are looking for.
The Right People on the Right Position
As Kenneth pointed out, when you have one location, you can handle a lot. But as you grow and start systematizing your business, you can’t do it all yourself. So, how can business owners figure out what needs to be delegated and what they can do themselves?
I advise having managers in each unit instead of being the managers themselves. That only works if you have one unit. The moment you start growing, you have to hire a Unit Manager because you cannot run all your stores, be the District Manager, and, on top of that, be the Franchisee.
These roles and their responsibilities are very different from one another, and all of them have to be done:
- The Unit Manager opens and closes the store, manages inventory and schedules, hires and retains employees, and captures and increases sales, among other tasks.
- The District Manager leads and inspires the team, maintains the units, plans the objectives based on priorities, and monitors the execution to achieve the expected results.
- The Franchisee ensures everything is done with a high level of excellence while protecting the brand, the business, and the people.
If you have one unit, you can be the manager, the district manager, and the Franchisee. But once you have two or more units, you simply cannot have those three roles.
Focusing on your franchisee role, hiring leadership positions, and delegating is the only way to grow. But it’s not easy. It requires a lot of work and thought.
These best practices also apply to independent businesses. If, for example, you own a small grocery store and want to open a second location, having these systems, processes, and policies in place and documented is 100% critical.
- Remember: if you are not able to delegate operations, you cannot grow multi-unit. That’s the bottom line.
But you are not alone in this endeavor. The American Franchise Academy guides franchisees and business owners in creating these systems and putting them on a management manual so they can begin their growth on a solid basis and become successful.
We offer three training programs for Franchisees, District Managers, and Unit Managers or Single-Unit Franchisees who want to make their franchises as profitable as possible.
Contact us to discover how we can help you achieve your dream of business ownership through franchising.
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