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Franchising FAQ
Do I need both franchisee operations and head office manuals?
You can’t successfully franchise without giving every franchisee a comprehensive ‘franchisee operations manual’ that tells them how to run their new business successfully and regulates the relationship between them and you (the franchisor). But the Team at your head office (or ‘support office’) also have to work hard to meet the expectations of your franchisees and drive the success of your franchise network, so we believe it’s equally important to develop head-office operations manuals and training to mentor and control how they work too.
Can you write our franchise manuals?
Yes. We can write bespoke franchisee operations and head-office operations manuals for you to a very high standard that can drive better performance and relationships in your franchise in the UK and abroad.
What franchise documents do I need?
A standard franchise system must include (at the very least): a financial model of the pilots of your business; a franchise prospectus and ancillary documents; a recruitment process; a franchise sales presentation or agenda; a franchise disclosure document (FDD) and FAQ; non-disclosure agreements; application forms; a template for franchisee feasibility and business plans; due-diligence documents and forms; a franchise agreement; a comprehensive franchisee operations manual (usually 400+ pages); a franchisor’s head-office manual; franchisee training; franchisee coaching; support visit agendas and forms; review and inspection processes and documents; and various surveys.
Can you develop our franchise for us?
Yes. We offer comprehensive franchise development packages that include ALL the documents, support and advice you needed to launch a successful new franchise and to recruit good franchisees - all under one roof and at a reasonable cost. And if you don’t want the full package (which includes our support in the first year or more of building your new franchise), simply order the specific documents, franchisee and head office operations manuals and individual franchise training programmes you want ad-hoc.
What franchisee training do I need?
Franchisee induction training is usually included within joining fees. It should be a comprehensive course of start-up and operational training for franchisees and their staff that’s held partly at franchisor premises and partly ‘on the job’ at franchisee premises. Franchisee induction courses usually take 3-6 weeks but the more training you offer the better and some some give as much as 32 weeks. You must also offer ongoing training that reinforces the skills and standards most important to your business and helps franchisees with emerging issues, new products and procedures and changing regulations. A comprehensive training schedule that includes franchisee-staff induction, specific skills and procedures, ad-hoc training, CPD and coaching will help you drive the performance of franchisees and build better relationships with them. We can develop all this for you.
What head-office/support office training should I develop?
We can develop bespoke training for you to enhance procedures at your head office and to drive the performance of your franchisee support Team. Your head office training should include topics like ‘franchisee recruitment’; ‘developing franchisee relationships and satisfaction’; ‘making the most of franchisee support visits’; ‘monitoring franchisees’; ‘driving and motivating franchisee performance’; ‘managing disputes and underperformance’; ‘understanding and using reports and accounts’; and specific operational tasks such as ‘using franchisee management software’, ‘processing franchisee payments’ or ‘supplying franchisees’, etc. We can also recommend third parties that offer broader open training courses to franchisors on important franchising topics.
Our franchisees aren’t performing, what should we do?
The most common reasons for a franchisee to underperform are: 1) they need additional support or training; 2) the franchisee isn’t motivated because they’re unhappy in their relationship with the franchisor; 3) the franchisor learns about emerging difficulties too late; 4) the franchisor doesn’t impose standards well enough; 5) the franchisee opened at the wrong location; 6) the franchisee or franchisor compromised on initial investment, working capital or marketing; 7) the franchisee wasn’t right for the business in the first place; 8) the original business wasn’t proven or no longer works. The first thing to do is to consider if any of the above apply to your situation and to resolve those issues if you can. Next, you need to learn from the experience and prevent it from happening again. This is often best achieved by reviewing your franchisee selection, induction, new-unit setup and support procedures and then improving your operations manual, head office manual and franchisee and head-office training, all of which we can help you with.
We want to change the way our franchise works, can you help?
We’ve often been called in to help franchises that have outgrown their initial setup and documentation, so need to completely rework the manuals, training and systems their franchisees initially agreed to and get them on board with the changes. This is even more difficult if franchisees need to agree to new terms in a new franchise agreement before the revised franchise system will work. We can help you manage this situation successfully by involving franchisees (in a measured way) in developing new manuals and training so they feel some ownership of the process; by writing manuals and new training for you that clearly benefit franchisees and franchisor alike; and by introducing new manuals, training and franchise agreements in a positive way at events or one-to-one with each of your franchisees.
How do we recruit more franchisees? (Sell more franchises)
This is, of course, the single most common question asked by franchisors.
We can help you by developing excellent recruitment strategies and by providing better manuals and training that drive better performance and satisfaction in your franchise and so make it more attractive to prospective franchisees (so more apply and more of your existing franchisees recommend you to others).
There are other things you can do, including: understanding that the pool of people already looking at franchising is a limited one, so widening your promotion to also target those in your sector who may want their own business but haven’t yet considered franchising; using professionals to create your promotional materials (they know what prospective franchisees are looking for AND what alienates them); ensuring the right people are chasing enquiries (choose someone that’s obsessively organised and good on the phone over other staff who may know a little more but aren’t as tenacious); restricting your efforts to ‘sell’ your franchise to face-to-face meetings where prospects can see your business instead of trying to sell it all in the initial call (if you give everything away on a call, there’s no reason for a prospect to visit); managing and tracking all enquiries (and the stages they’re at and what’s due to happen next) efficiently on a database that alerts your recruiter to stay active; holding regular discovery days (some prospects may be more comfortable learning about you in a group than one-to-one); using professional franchisee recruiters (we can recommend good ones); and more.
Have a look at our Franchising Guides for more on how to franchise successfully: