“Congrats! You are now franchising nationwide!” Once you hear these words, your journey as a franchisor officially begins. You are now in position to be at the “helm of a fleet of ships”, so you need to understand what is expected of you in this new role as a franchisor.
Your role as a franchisor goes beyond the regular day-to-day task of being a business owner (read about what it means to franchise your business and your responsibilities as a franchisor). Your franchisees will look to you as they grow their business. You will need to be available to mentor and guide them. While there are various duties and responsibilities, here are a few of the most important aspects to your new role:
Mentoring
As your franchisees’ businesses grow, they will look to you for guidance in what for them is uncharted territory. After all, you are the expert! Beyond their initial franchise training, your ongoing support is expected to continue to steer your franchisees in the right direction. Your franchisees need to know that you are still interested in their well-being long after the initial sale!
Growing and Adding Value to the Brand
As you bring on franchisees and your business starts to become known in other markets, you need to continue to enhance your brand. They will expect someone to create vision and direction for the system as a whole, especially to improve upon and strengthen the brand. As franchisor, YOU are the visionary.
Keeping things current and constantly evolving adds value to your system (read “When Franchising Providing Ongoing Value to Franchisees”). As you continue to have franchisees in other markets, it is not uncommon for franchisors to create different initiatives intended to benefit everyone (for example, a new program that franchisees can rollout to their customers).
Moreover, franchisees don’t want to feel like they are part of a stagnant or antiquated system that has become obsolete. You will need to monitor industry developments, competition and keep a watchful eye on the changes in technology and consumer trends. And when necessary, adding depth to your existing services and/or products, or even refining processes to be more efficient will be appreciated by your franchisees!
And don’t hit the panic button! It is not uncommon that new ideas and improvements come from franchisees. Yep, that’s right! More often than not it is the franchisees who suggest an improvement or change that is then implemented and rolled out system-wide! Imagine creating a network of like-minded business owners who (like you) are motivated to be better (for more on this topic you can read “How to Start Franchising Your Business & How It Will Affect Your Future”). If franchising is executed correctly it becomes very powerful!
Creating Relationships
As a franchisor, more than likely you have created relationships with preferred vendors and suppliers that are instrumental to the products and/or services used and/or offered by your franchisees. While these vendors and suppliers may provide products or services to your system, these relationships need to be nourished. This allows you to monitor both the quality of the products and/or services provided, as well as the negotiated pricing (learn more about how you can make money from vendors and suppliers when franchising by reading “How Do I Make Money Franchising My Business?”).
Furthermore, as a franchisor, your ability to think outside the box becomes even more invaluable. As leader of your fleet, you constantly seek to forge synergistic relationships that will add value to your system. Strategic partnerships that are developed by you, give rise to collaborative marketing opportunities and events, which franchisees can participate in at the local, regional or national level.
So Are You Ready?
Franchising your business can be an exciting direction for you and your business (watch our videos on franchising your business). While there are expectations of you as a franchisor and right now they may seem overwhelming to think about, they are really not that much different than what you’re doing now…. just on a LARGER scale.
Are ready to take on the role of franchisor? Call us directly at 1-877-615-5177 or contact us and we will help you understand what franchising your business could look like and determine if franchising is right for you!
