Franchise Guide: Best Practices - Franchising.com

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Best Practices

Brian Castro's help desk department serves more than 1,000 computer users at his company's corporate center. Among the 23 employees in his multi-generational staff are several Millennials (born 1980-1999) who he hired last year, fresh out of college. Like the rest of Brian's help desk staff, his Millennials are excellent at solving difficult computer problems, usually under a critical deadline. Overall Brian, a Baby Boomer, is pleased with his new hires and tells them just how much he values them.
  • Dr. Joanne G. Sujansky, CSP and Jan Ferri-Reed, Ph.D
  • 3,720 Reads 15 Shares
You've worked hard to build your multi-unit franchise business, and now it's time to step back--not only from the day-to-day operations, but perhaps from the business itself. Is it time to let go? Can you? Will the business continue without you?
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 6,603 Reads 1,021 Shares
Most of the headlines in 2009 have carried a common theme with respect to business and retailers in particular: a struggling economy and record high unemployment. Although most employees, customers, and vendors are as honest as the day is long, others simply cannot resist the temptation to steal what they cannot afford--especially in difficult times.
  • Rollie Trayte and Gary Widman
  • 5,153 Reads 1,021 Shares
It seems there really is a silver lining in every cloud. And the recent economic downturn has deposited a little of that silver at the feet of some multi-unit franchisees who can tolerate risk and don't mind a little "remodeling" work. Today, opportunities abound to buy distressed franchise units from other troubled or bankrupt franchisees--often for pennies on the dollar. If they have the stomach, these "rescuers" can snatch up these units, turn them around, and watch the dollars flow in.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 7,922 Reads 2 Shares
Back in 1989, I had an experience that remains vividly clear even now. I was driving through the small town of Monroe, La. Even though my windows were rolled up, there was an awful stench seeping into my rental car.
  • Jack Mackey
  • 6,129 Reads 1,023 Shares
These are adverse times for franchise industry executives and operators. Everywhere they turn it seems they are faced with weakening markets. The "get big" strategy of the last decade, which was driven by low interest rates and growing markets, is collapsing under the pressure of shrinking consumer demand.
  • Jack Mackey
  • 5,751 Reads 1,014 Shares
At the end of January, following the headlines of optimism and encouragement that came with the presidential inauguration, came the harsh reality of job layoffs and plant closings in one company after another across the country. Home Depot announced 7,000 layoffs, Pfizer trimmed 19,000 jobs, and Caterpillar 20,000. In total, nearly 60,000 wage earners became unemployed, and while many enjoyed reasonable severance packages others were most certainly caught unprepared for the income loss that will follow.
  • Rollie Trayte and Gary Widman
  • 4,155 Reads 50 Shares
Looking for deals in today's economy? Look no farther than the franchise agreement--but look carefully (and bring a lawyer). Written by franchisors to protect their brand and their interests, franchise agreements have historically favored franchisors, with little room for negotiation, especially among more established brands. That not only is changing, it already has--the result of fundamental shifts within franchising itself, accelerated by today's economic upheavals.
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 4,363 Reads 35 Shares
Over the past several years, we have spoken with business owners around the country who had decided they had reached the point of being ready to leave their businesses. However, no one was stepping up to provide them the exit results they wanted. These owners had spent all of their time aggressively working in their business, but had spent little time aggressively working on how they would eventually exit their business. They found themselves late in the game with few options to achieve their exit objectives. Simply put, they were too late.
  • Andrew D. Horowitz, CPhD, and Nicholas K. Niemann, Esq.
  • 5,123 Reads 1,015 Shares
There may be some lag time, but experts note that every recession since the 1950s--with its rising unemployment and weakened economy--has been tied to an increase in crime, most notably property crimes and robbery.
  • Rollie Trayte and Gary Widman
  • 4,578 Reads 22 Shares
Franchise Update Media Group (FUMG), the leading industry resource for franchise development, is sponsoring the premier event in multi-unit franchising, the 8th Annual Multi-Unit Franchising Conference, April 15-17, 2009 at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. This is the only conference in the country with an exclusive focus on multi-unit franchising, the fastest-growing sector in the industry, where franchisors can meet and network with successful multi-unit franchisees looking for new opportunities.
  • Press Release
  • 3,261 Reads 1 Shares
Hot Dish Advertising
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As you may recall, in my last column I asked if the hiring managers in your organization know the answers to the 15 questions that make all the difference between success and failure in recruiting, selecting, and retaining the best employees. Here now are the answers.
  • Mel Kleiman
  • 4,375 Reads 1,014 Shares
I have a suggestion that will raise your odds of winning--and it won't cost you any money. To clarify what I mean by improving your probability of winning, let me contrast that with an example of winning by chance.
  • Jack Mackey
  • 5,984 Reads 1,014 Shares
When you have only one location, it's pretty easy to work both in your business as well as on it. When you have two locations, most often it's still doable--you can manage it. Almost without exception, however, when you get to three or more locations, you'll find yourself stretched way past your limits. You will be so busy working in your business that you won't have any time to work on it, and that's a recipe for disaster. When the disasters start piling up, it's past time to recruit the unit-level managers (ULMs) you need to keep things running smoothly and help you grow your business.
  • Mel Kleiman
  • 4,344 Reads 22 Shares
Customer loyalty is never more important than in turbulent times. High levels of customer satisfaction are a must to win customer loyalty. That's one reason measuring customer satisfaction is a great idea--if the numbers are real! Unfortunately, many customer satisfaction scores are unreliable.
  • Jack Mackey
  • 5,562 Reads 1,014 Shares
While there are many good reasons to implement an automated employee scheduling system (two of the more obvious being to control labor costs and improve customer service), few employers realize that there are two additional important benefits to be realized.
  • Mel Kleiman
  • 5,061 Reads 1 Shares
After my workshop on loss prevention and security at Franchise Update's Multiunit Franchising conference this past April in Scottsdale, attendees made their desire clear for more information on the topic--and for specific tactics they could employ to improve profitability. After all, every dollar not lost to employee or customer theft (or some other form of controllable loss), falls directly to the bottom line.
  • Rollie Trayte and Gary Widman
  • 4,526 Reads 3 Shares
For America's Top Franchisors, Search Delivers Exponential Growth Opportunities. Are the Top Contenders Capitalizing?
  • Oneupweb®
  • 8,210 Reads
Business owners understand the importance of advertising and the need to maximize how their dollars are spent. But how do you do that? For multi-unit franchise operators, much is at stake. Here's a look at what four area developers have done to make the most of their advertising spending.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 4,940 Reads 51 Shares
Being an area developer, most outsiders would think, is a guaranteed stress-builder. After all, minding a number of businesses--let alone starting them up--has more problems in more directions than your average C-level exec faces every day.
  • Linda C. Ray
  • 2,931 Reads 3 Shares
Kitty and Jamil Alaily, Cost Cutters franchisees for 22 years in Northeast Wisconsin, have nearly completed the hand-off of their 40 salons (including 4 Supercuts) to their 28-year-old son, Jihad. After two and half years of planning and execution, Kitty Alaily offers some hard-won advice.
  • 3,791 Reads 30 Shares
Jeff's Bagel Run
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When it comes to succession planning, the Northwest may be the country's most evolved region. Maybe it's all that Microsoft money looking for a home, or maybe it's the waters of the Columbia racing toward the Pacific.
  • 3,244 Reads 2 Shares
The numbers vary, depending on who you ask, but the result is the same: The outlook for the continuity of family-owned businesses is bleak. So where's the disconnect? What goes wrong? With all the years of hard work and sacrifice that go into building a family-owned business, why don't more founders succeed in passing it on to the next generation--and the next? And what can a founder do to increase the odds the business will survive?
  • Eddy Goldberg
  • 6,202 Reads
Out of the American West came a term that has changed meaning from its use by the vaqueros herding cattle 100 years ago, to that of today's slick marketers of products and services. That word (or buzzword) is branding. In a world of instant communication, in which images whirl by us daily through multiple media, branding is crucial to success for both individuals and corporations.
  • Carren Bersch
  • 3,186 Reads 5 Shares
Satisfying your customers is a misguided effort. Creating loyal customers should be your only goal. Loyal customers spread positive word of mouth for you: they come back frequently and they spend more on each visit. Plus, they're more likely to resist offers from your competition and they're usually easier to serve.
  • Jack Mackey
  • 3,732 Reads 13 Shares
So many companies today train their employees to "duplicate" the customer experience, to treat every person who walks through the door exactly the same way. I have seen too many companies fail using this strategy. Forget about what is easier to train your employees to do: not every customer wants the same experience.
  • Thom Winninger
  • 4,104 Reads 12 Shares
The surest way to lose a good employee is to leave him or her up in the air about what the job is and how to do it.
  • Ripley Hotch
  • 4,119 Reads 3 Shares
Web-based Performance Dashboards give you the power to analyze information about the performance of your business and the key activities you manage. As the name dashboard suggests, these are web-based tools that continuously display the current state of your key business metrics. And among the most vital signs of your business health are customer satisfaction scores and customer loyalty trends.
  • Jack Mackey
  • 8,278 Reads 144 Shares
It's every multi-unit operator's nightmare: You have a solid group of healthy performing units until you notice one beginning to decline - lower sales numbers, declining traffic, increased customer complaints, unusually high employee turnover. Or maybe you decide to take on a new unit that has been a low performer. It can be a difficult situation, but it can also provide an opportunity filled with high returns if handled properly. Here are some approaches, tips and insight to what some area developers have done to turn around poor performing units.
  • Kerry Pipes
  • 3,343 Reads 47 Shares
The difference between satisfied customers and loyal customers can sink a multi-unit franchisee. But there is also good news here.
  • Jack Mackey
  • 4,181 Reads 3 Shares
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