This article is written and owned by TL Kleban
As a franchise owner just starting out, you will undoubtedly feel a little overwhelmed in the beginning. There is a large number of responsibilities that go along with starting your franchise and getting it off the ground. It isn’t all on you at least. The franchisor will be there to to help you out with support if need be but over time, they are going to back away from your day-to-day business operations. The rest is all up to you.
In the world of franchising, it is critical to have a working relationship between you, the franchisee, and them, the franchisor. It doesn’t need to be a great one but one that look past the common complications in order to make it work. For this to happen, open communication is important. Not only will you have a strong relationship with your franchisor, but also solid relationships with your customers. Here are a few more ways you can build a strong relationship with your franchisor:
* Report all of activities – Some of you unlucky franchise owners may find yourself with a franchisor that demands a weekly report that keeps track of your progress. Now maybe you don’t have one that does so look like you are the one being proactive by taking it upon yourself to report all of the week’s business activities through email. Try to keep track of the paper trail in that it will help the franchisor determine what needs improvement or assistance.
* Stay interactive – Many franchise systems use a LISTSERV for their franchisees. If the one you are involved with does, try to become involved with by sending any comments about business or any other feedback you feel may be helpful. While your franchisor probably won’t reply every one of your comments, you have the opportunity to help other franchisees with business problems they are running across. It can also help you in the same way.
* Make your opinion known – Maybe your franchise store has one way to go about everyday business that can help out everyone else or just an idea that can be a benefit to the entire franchise system. Tell everyone about it. Give them your opinion. Most of them time franchisees get all of their ideas, initiatives, and support from the franchisor. Become pro-active and help take the lead in strengthening the company brand, and in turn, business.
* Behave professionally – I’ve found that most of the conflicts between franchisee and franchisors come from the franchisee not getting immediate or enough attention from headquarters. If you feel this is happening to you and you are not receiving your responses in a reasonable amount of time, change that by resolving the issue professionally and calmly.
* Begin an advisory group with other franchises – More and more franchises are creating advisory groups with other stores in the system as a way cutting back of repetitive inquiries. Most of these issues involve operations and can be addressed through these groups. Many of these groups designate one person to represent multiple franchises.
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