Don’t Be Anoyed By The Rigidity Of The Franchisors, It Is Needed To Ensure The Smooth Running And Success Franchise Business

Jan

stored in: Business and Management

When you first step into the territory of a Franchise Opportunity one of the first things to stand out will most certainly be the size of the “rule book”, or the paper that sets out the foundation under which you may conduct your business within your contract. There will also be a significant amount of detail around the consequences of not obeying these rules, some of which will be harsh.

It is also confusing for a new franchisee to realise that the good ideas that he comes up with on how to improve the running of the business are nine times out of ten not taken on the franchisor, and more than that are disallowed going forward. This is all very much part of the Low Cost Franchise tradition. A culture that causes a significant amount of pressure and annoyance for individuals having recently purchased a Franchise For Sale and less so for those who are experienced at the franchise model.

Those with more knowledge of the ways in which a franchise model works can understand the need for conformity across the whole organisation. This usually means that the same rules apply to all franchises across the country but equally it could apply overseas too.

The model must be easy to reproduce all over the territory in which it operates and therefore should be configured to allow regional differences in the system. The model must also take into account that the individuals running each franchise will have different capabilities and so it must be clear and informative enough for all to deal with. This can sometimes mean that an individual with extra skills in a particular area is restricted in his actions as the rest of the franchisees would just not be able to work at that level.

A lot of the consistency boils down to the ease in which the Franchise operator can review and control the entire team. If every franchisee for example was submitting sales figures in a different configuration it would be very time consuming to assess the overall picture and so all franchisees need to use the same reporting system. If one franchisee decided that he was going to put a deal together for a particular bundle of products in a particular month the sales of the franchisee in the ajoining patch may be affected. This could spiral to a complaint to the franchisor. A few of these kinds of situations needing attention and the franchisor is using all his time smoothing out disagreements rather than continuing to grow his company.

So the rule book, although large, is there for a very good reason, the continued expansion of the entire organisation. If you are considering a Franchise Opportunity do not necessarily be dissuaded by a large and exhaustive list of do’s and don’ts. Often it is a signal that the franchisor has great plans for the company and has the willpower and drive to get it there. This of course is exactly what a potential franchisee wants to hear as the brand and company growth will have a massive affect on the profits for each franchisee.