The BFA (British Franchise Association) is the hub of franchising in the UK. Our aim is not only to help people discover the opportunities for supported self-employment through the wonderful world of franchising but also to educate and support franchisors to deliver the most ethical, professional franchise opportunities possible.
Wrap around support
Just like in any business, there will be ups and downs with owning a franchise. It would be foolish to think otherwise. Luckily, the franchise system is specifically designed to offer wrap-around support to franchisees, but in reality, what does this support look like and how does a franchisor help someone who is underperforming or struggling to make their business work?
Expert advice
To shed light on the subject, we spoke to new member of the BFA Board, and MD of Agency Express, Ben Brookes and Helen Thompson, franchise manager at Mathnasium, to shed some light on the topic.
Identifying problems early on
Unsurprisingly, both Ben and Helen agree that spotting small issues before they become big problems is key to providing first class support to a franchisee and that the data they get from their business management software, gives them a heads up that there’s a problem very quickly.
Data, data, data
Ben says: “our aim is always to monitor a franchisee’s progress, but without being overbearing; allowing them to run their businesses freely, but with us keeping an eye on things in the background. However, if a franchisee is not meeting their SLA’s (Service Level Agreements), then we know there’s a problem.” He continues: “However, a dip isn’t always a sign of trouble, it could just be a bad month, or they’ve been sick, but our system identifies anomalies immediately, so we can pick up the phone to find out what’s going on and see if we need to support.”
Recognising the human element
Helen agrees: “We have superb software that gives us a heads up if there’s a problem, but we also know our franchisees so well, that almost before the software picks up the problem, we’ll know there’s an issue. We spend so long getting to know our franchisees that we can tell if they are more withdrawn, less communicative, so we’ll make the time to go and see them in person, to find out what’s going on.”
“Support is on the way dear”
So, if a franchisee is having problems, how do Ben and Helen handle it? Should we imagine Mrs Doubtfire in full mock-Scottish, bearing down on a franchisee yelling “Help is on the way dear!”?
Not quite, but the reality isn’t far off.
“It all comes down to what the problem is” says Ben. “If it is personal eg marital breakdown or health issues then we’ll obviously do everything we can to support them while they ride out the storm. I’ve been open about my own mental health issues in the past, so I hope my franchisees feel comfortable coming directly to me if that’s the problem. Using my online calendar, franchisees can book a meeting with me if they need to talk.”
Operational and financial problems
What if the problem is good old operational or financial? “In that case, we’ll drill down to find out exactly what is going wrong and work on fixing it with them. We have a member of our team who is constantly on the road visiting franchisees, so he’ll go and spend time with them, maybe retrain them on a certain aspect of the business, tutor them on sales approach or, if necessary, go door knocking with them.’
“If the problems are financial, we can coach them on how to manage their finances better, we’ve even helped franchisees save for their VAT bills by creating separate accounts for them and putting that money away on their behalf every month. Whatever the problem is, we can help.”
Remedial measures
Through Helen’s regular touch points and face to face meetings, she is quick to recognise when a franchisee is generally feeling overwhelmed and takes steps to help. “If there are several problems, we’ll deal with the most pressing ones first, then break the rest down into more easily digestible chunks, for a franchisee to digest and act upon. It’s easy to become overwhelmed and part of my job as support manager is to help them through that period.”
Extra support
Helen continues: “If, after significant amounts of support, a franchisee is still struggling, we are able to offer them a tailored business improvement plan which provides them with tools, online training and regular follow ups to help improve their performance. This works well and, working together, we soon have franchisees back to operational strength.”
Attitude adjustment
Attitude can sometimes play a part in performance issues. If a franchisee isn’t willing to listen and learn, then the franchisor could have a difficult job on their hands turning their ship around.
Ben admits: “if someone’s demeanour and delivery is grating on clients, then it’s obviously going to have a knock on effect on their business. It’s our responsibility to be honest with them and explain that the problem, is actually them.”
Helen adds: “If we see that a franchisee has already ‘checked out’ mentally, there’s probably not much more we can do. All the retraining in the world isn’t going to get them to re-engage.”
Terminating a contract
“Terminating a franchisee’s contract is a last resort for us” says Ben. “We would always rather work with the franchisee to get them back on track, rather than lose them. There are no guarantees that the next franchisee you take on won’t have exactly the same problems, so we’d rather work to fix them, using in house resources, rather than go to the expense of recruiting a new franchisee.”
The phrase ‘better the devil you know’ springs to mind.
Franchisor support
Franchisees will always face challenges, whether medical, domestic, operational, or financial. But franchisors have a vested interest in their success and will do everything possible to get them back on track, running the business they always wanted.” #FranchisingStrongerTogether
To find out more about supported self-employment through franchise opportunities, visit the bfa website.
