You will have been told to look out for so many things in your franchise research. Here’s another, but I promise you will thank me in the long run! Find a franchisor who gives a damn, and I mean who really cares about you, as well as your business success.
The relationship you have with your franchisor can be likened to that of a marriage, it should carry respect, cooperation, and compassion. They are going to be the partner by your side in one of the biggest life changes you make, certainly one of your biggest career changes.
Take a snapshot of your last 5-years (a.k.a the average franchise agreement term), and consider all of the significant life events you faced in that time; house moves, births, losses, marriages, break-ups, family milestones, who you’ve had to support, who has supported you, physical and mental health challenges, financial changes and more.
Your franchisor is who will be there, supporting not only your business, but you through all of these life events while you’re running your own business. You can be incredibly high-performing, resilient, and able to compartmentalise like a pro, but the reality is, that most significant life events are somewhat out of your control and so you are going to want someone by your side who cares about more than just the money you make each month.
You want both.
You need to look for someone who cares about your business and its success, but they also must care for your welfare too. You are more than another branch to a brand, in many ways, for many sectors, ‘you’ are the the business, and without you, there will be no business.
So when doing your research, I would urge you to look behind the ‘unparalleled franchise support’ claims and find out what that support actually looks like in reality, over the 5-year span. Create two columns of, ‘business support’, ‘support for me’ and reflect upon the divide.
Caring for yourself after your business is not an option if you’re looking for long-term business success, it has to be something you integrate from day one, so find out how your franchisor supports that. What kind of 1-2-1 or group support do they offer? And at what frequency? You’ll get sales and marketing support as standard, but what ‘human-skills’ do they support or give training in? Are they Mental Health First Aid trained, so ready to support you as and when you may need it, to spot things before you even do? Do they offer you training to manage your mental fitness along the way? Do they have a wellbeing policy in place?
All of these are key indicators of the importance your franchisor places on your welfare. Systems and operations are essential to your business, but so are you, so make sure to choose your partner wisely.
