The strongest franchisors understand where their own expertise lies and where bringing in an external specialist can add something more. Whether supporting a campaign, providing advice or developing resources, the right partnership can give franchisees access to insight they may not otherwise have.
For a franchisor, the challenge is making sure those relationships deliver meaningful results across the network – rather than simply adding another name to the support roster. Here, Grace Cole, Managing Director of Monkey Puzzle Day Nurseries, shares why knowing when to look outside your organisation can create greater value for franchisees and their customers.
There can be an expectation that a franchisor should have every answer. After all, franchisees join an established network because they want expertise, structure and support around them. But good support does not mean trying to be everything to everyone.
Part of being a strong franchisor is recognising what the network needs and finding the right people to provide it. Sometimes that expertise will already exist within the organisation. At other times, somebody with specialist knowledge can strengthen what is already available.
We have recently put that thinking into practice through a partnership with Dr. Morwen Duncan, Founder and Lead Clinical Psychologist at The Lotus Psychology Practice. Together, we have developed a national parent engagement campaign designed to give families access to expert-led advice while creating further opportunities for our settings to connect with local parents. The focus has been on turning specialist insight on child development, behaviour and wellbeing into useful content families can engage with in different ways.
While that partnership is specific to our sector, the principle applies much more widely. Every franchise network will have areas where outside expertise can complement what the franchisor already provides and bring another level of knowledge into the business.
Scale can make a real difference too. Finding the right specialist independently takes time and individual owner-operators may not have access to the same opportunities as a larger organisation. A franchisor can establish those relationships centrally and make high-quality expertise available across the network.
Running a business requires owners to wear plenty of hats, but being part of a franchise should mean they do not have to become specialists in everything. External experts can extend the support available beyond the franchisor’s core expertise.
People within a franchise understand their brand, customers and sector, but there is always some risk of looking at challenges through the same lens. Someone from the outside can introduce different thinking, ask different questions and share experience gained elsewhere.
The important thing is to be selective. Not every partnership will be right for every network, and more support does not necessarily mean better support. Anything introduced should have a clear reason for being there and make sense for the franchisees, customers or communities it is intended to benefit. Franchisees should be able to trust that the people and organisations brought into that wider support structure have been chosen carefully and understand what they can genuinely contribute.
It is also worth remembering that a franchise network does not stand still. As it grows, the needs of franchisees change, new challenges emerge and the support around them needs to keep pace. What works for a network today may not be everything it needs tomorrow, so franchisors need to remain open to how that support evolves.
Sometimes the answer will be found within the network. Sometimes it will come from beyond it. The smartest franchisors know the value of both.
