Chances are that when you started your business, it was pretty small. Perhaps it was just you and maybe a couple of employees. As your business grew, so did your employee headcount. While some of those original employees have stuck around, others have moved on to different paths. As a business owner with a growing, successful business, having loyal and trustworthy employees is a HUGE asset. The profile of any given business generally has a mix of employee types: some with more motivation, more experience; some with fewer skills, less commitment. So when your business is poised to grow, do your employees play a role in to your decision to franchise your business?
Worth Their Weight In Gold
If you are lucky enough to have employees that have been with you since “Day One”, then more than likely, those employees probably know almost everything about your business (maybe even as much as you do)! So how can you build on that loyalty and make it stronger? What if your employee needs to move out of the area? How can you keep that person in your system? In either situation, you may lose them.
If you franchise your business, then one way to reward your long standing employee is to give him/her the opportunity to own his/her business. After all, the employee already knows your business inside and out! Your goal as you expand your franchise system is to bring on franchisees “just like you” to operate your business in their area (see more on how to find franchisees just like you). This scenario could be a win-win for everyone and who better than one of your employees as one of your first franchisees?!
Stop Training Your Competition
No doubt, you’ve had employees that you mentored and trained, only to have them quit and either work for or become your competition. Maybe it is time you stop training your competition! If you franchise your business, motivated employees who are looking for more challenge and responsibility could have an avenue for business ownership and you get to keep them in your system.
Expansion Headaches
You could choose to grow your business by adding more company-owned locations and then you would be responsible for the management and supervision of those locations remotely. More locations also means more employees on payroll and you may be subject to mandated programs (see our article on the Affordable Care Act and its effects on franchising), all of which can create more headaches.
Keep in mind, if you franchise your business, each franchise location is independently owned and operated by a franchisee, who then hires and manages their own employees. Each franchisee, while still mentored by you, is ultimately responsible for all the operations of their business which relieves you of the headache of managing each location (read how franchising can be a solution if you want more locations but don’t want to hire more employees)! In this case and best scenario, your employee becomes your franchisee!
No matter how you slice it, employees factor into the expansion equation. Not sure what “equation” works out for you? No Worries! We will help determine if franchising is right for you. Give us a call directly at 1-877-615-5177 or feel free to contact us anytime. We will listen to you, learn about your business and your goals to determine if franchising makes sense.
