So how can we ensure we achieve a work/life balance as a franchisor and be able to enjoy clocking off at 6pm on a Friday?
Before entering into new role or deciding to franchise your business means you need to do your homework. Like preparing to lead the country you must ensure you have all your manifestos (market research, manuals, a memorandum and goals) in place, fully costed and ready to roll out before taking the leap into franchisor leadership. Preparation is key, ensuring your prospectus, disclosure pack, operations manual, marketing plan and financial forecasts are set so that you as a human being don’t implode when the time hits.
When this is all in place you then need to decide on your cabinet (team), can you juggle all the business elements yourself or are you going to find the right people to take on roles? They can help you make the right decision moving forward and be accountable for their areas of expertise. It’s a tricky balance in the early days but something I learnt the hard way when starting. I felt I had to know all the answers and also wasn’t blessed with the financial position to take on staff straight away but know I should’ve looked into it a lot earlier than I did. I was a new mum, and whilst I’d had a fantastic franchise consultant I felt I had to do it all myself as no-one knew my business better than me. I had to do all roles so that I could prove to everyone around me (mainly myself) that I could do this, that I could make it a success.
However being jack of all trades and master of none doesn’t serve any individual well and I soon learnt to invest in those that had skills that I did not, that could do roles far better than I ever could and who could also come into my business with an external perspective and disassociated level of passion to see things objectively. Bringing others into your team can help growth, bring skills you didn’t even know your business needed and keep up with the current economic and societal shifts in marketing and communication. Let them help you devise your ideal voters (franchisees) to target through your marketing and communication. Play to your strengths and let others play to theirs.
But leadership can be hard and finding your leadership style can take time, your constituents (customers and franchisees) need to be able to engage with you, relate to your ethos, believe in your brand and buy into your vision. You need to listen to feedback however hard that might be, be open to ideas and creativity and be willing to change long term plans or goals if need be.
Some key tips to consider
- Prepare your manifestos in detail before launching
- Pick your cabinet members who have the skills you don’t
- Decide on your ideal voters and speak to them about your franchise offering
- Be engaging and relatable to your audience to gain their backing
- Build trust, be true to your word and willing to continuously learn
- Learn to not take things personally but not lose your passion for your brand
- Ask for feedback – send surveys and action it
- Ensure you have support around you, your family and friends will be vital in your personal and emotional well being.
And finally remember we are all human, we will make mistakes and whilst ours won’t be cast out to the entire country through the media ensure you are willing to learn from them, move on. Things can only get better…
