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Every franchisee has ideas of their own, and that's a good thing. Franchisees and their teams are closest to customers, and the best brands are built by creative entrepreneurial franchisees. But having good ideas and actually getting the franchisor to act on them are two very different things.
As someone who has been both a franchisee and a franchisor, I've seen that the franchisees who have the most influence aren't the loudest voices in the room. They're the ones who approach the relationship like a partnership, and that starts long before you ever pitch an idea.
Early in my time as a franchisee, our franchise CEO brought me to meet with Planet Fitness’ CEO, Chris Rondeau. I spent weeks preparing. We built a full presentation showcasing everything great we were doing in our locations, along with a list of initiatives we wanted their blessing to pursue. It was polished. It was thorough. We were proud of it.
Then, the night before the meeting, we scrapped the whole thing. We replaced it with a single slide that read: “How can we help you?”
That one decision changed everything. Instead of walking in and asking for things, we opened a conversation. Chris shared what the brand was working toward, where they needed support, and what kept him up at night. By the end of that meeting, I'd begun building a real relationship with our franchisor. One built on trust, not transactions.
That moment taught me something I've carried into everything I've done since, including building Boardroom Salon for Men: influence is earned from credibility and showing your franchisor you're invested in the bigger picture.
It's tempting to come into a franchise system with a long list of things you'd change. But the biggest frustration franchisors experience is franchisees who have not proven they can run the model as designed. Master the playbook before you try to rewrite it. When you've demonstrated that you can execute at a high level, your ideas carry weight because they come from someone the franchisor already trusts.
When you do bring ideas forward, make sure they're backed by results. If a franchisee says, “I think we should try this,” it is easy for the franchisor to set it aside. But if a franchisee says, “I tested this in my location and here's what it did to my numbers,” that is a different conversation entirely. Or better yet – “I’d like to run this pilot, and here’s how I’ll define if it’s successful, so we aren’t debating results mid-effort.”
Franchise Advisory Councils, regional meetings, and annual conferences exist because good franchisors genuinely want input. The operators who show up consistently and contribute constructively become the voices that shape the brand's direction. Our franchise hosts these meetings in person every three months, and I credit this investment of time to the success we’ve enjoyed.
If you're evaluating franchise opportunities, pay close attention to how the franchisor handles feedback. Ask how franchisee input is collected. Ask for examples of changes that came from the operator level. A brand that welcomes that conversation is one that values its franchisees as partners, and that's the kind of system where your voice will matter.
Jeff Helfgott is CEO of Boardroom Salon for Men.