Ryan White, managing director of BFA member pet care franchise We Love Pets, us gives invaluable insight into how to be the best franchisee you possibly can. From communicating with your franchisor to embracing change and trusting your head office.
Ask for help
When you buy a franchise, you are buying a tried and tested business model which lays out how to do everything, from advertising your services to selling your product but with the best will in the world, it is going to take you time to learn the ins and outs of the business. After all, it’s taken your franchisor years to nail the formula, you can hardly be expected to pick it up and run with it in a matter of days. This is where it is so important that you ask for help.
As adults we aren’t terribly good at asking for help, but it is important you set all preconceptions aside and blow your franchisor’s phone up like a newly courting couple in the first few weeks. If they don’t hear from you daily to begin with, then there’s something wrong. You’ve paid a lot of money to invest in a proven business model, it makes no sense not to ask for help when you first start. Every single franchisee has been in the same situation, there’s no such thing as a ‘silly question’ and if you don’t want to ask the franchisor, reach out to experienced members of the network.
Be the brand
The most successful franchisees are those who immerse themselves in the brand, walk it, talk it, live it and breathe it. Follow their example and become a brand advocate for your own business. Learn everything you can; talk to the rest of the network (who you should already have spoken to when researching the brand in the first place) and embed yourself in as a fully engaged member of the team. Now is not a time to hang back and be shy. Get stuck in.
‘Stick to the model’
This is a phrase you’ll hear alot in the franchising industry because it is key to the success of the entire sector. The ‘model’ is the way the business looks, the product it sells and the systems it has in place to make that happen. It is vital you don’t deviate from the model which is laid out in your training and in the franchise manual. You’ll be amazed at the minute detail the manual goes into, from how to answer the phone to clients, to use of the social media and the acceptable use of the brand’s logo, there is a method for everything.
Embrace change and support your franchisor
Before you bought your franchise it will have been through numerous changes to bring it to the point where it is today. New systems will have been brought in, new suppliers, possibly even an entire rebrand – all for the good of the brand – so when it happens during your tenure, support your franchisor, appreciate that all brands go through changes and trust your franchisor that they are for the best.
Expansion or investment?
Sometimes franchisees question why the franchisor wants to recruit more franchisees rather than plough all profits into the franchisees and business they already have. The answer is simple, growth costs money and new franchisees bring increased revenues, allowing for expansion and trust me when I tell you, your franchisor wants to expand until all territories are sold, so if you want to be part of a brand with up-to-date systems, software and experienced support staff, then you’ll need to support them with their franchisee recruitment plans.
Yours, mine or ours?
A common mistake is when franchisees think they are ‘only a franchisee’ and that there is an imbalance of power in the relationship, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Without the franchisor you wouldn’t have a business, true, but without you, the franchisor wouldn’t have a business either. You are a team, both striving for the same goal, the ultimate growth and success of the brand. Be a team, work together, it’s not a ‘them and us’ situation, you are in this together. You have chosen to invest in their business and in return they’ll share the secrets of how to make it a success.
Communication
Ultimately, communicate with your franchisor, from your very first day, to your very last and work together to build a big, beautiful business you can both be proud of.
