80% of franchise owners have just one unit, or location in their possession. The goal with franchise investors today is to own multiple locations or branches in order to build up an empire of sorts. In order to expand you must be willing to put in hard work as well as change up your business model to stay competitive in the location of your new businesses.
Here is some great advice on how you can start by better managing your branch managers:
Most owners who successfully expand the number of units they own figure out that they can't oversee every store themselves. They need a strong layer of management in place in their individual cafés, floral shops or whatever type of business they own. The realization usually comes when owners have around three to six stores. At that point, they often discover that they're wasting time and money rushing between different locations to check up on employees. Once they figure out how to set up a trustworthy management team, scaling with new businesses becomes easier.
But some owners can never take the leap of faith and trust others to run the show while they're away. Or they're such micromanagers that the stores rely on them being around to deliver strong performance. These owners “need to really ask themselves if they are equipped to manage from afar,” says Richard Sharoff, a longtime franchisee and executive vice president for franchising at restaurant chain Amsterdam Falafelshop.
But knowing how to scale up isn't enough. Owners must earn top marks from their chain in areas like customer service—and do it consistently. Consistent performance is often a byproduct of a strong management team. But oversight from the home office also helps. For example, Mr. Steck has online complaints forwarded to his mobile phone, so he can find out if, say, three customers have complained about produce that isn't fresh from a particular store. This helps Saladworks police its owners but also helps owners improve their quality scores so they don't consistently get a C grade, for instance.
One way to make your success last in order to expand, is to get involved with the community. This will help not only with business growth for your franchise locations but will also build up your brand as a hole which will help you get noticed as well as stay relevant.
What would you best franchise tip be to anyone out there looking to invest?
Article Source: The Wall Street Journal
Image Source: Carmen Shields on Flickr
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