We are working with a fantastic client right now. They started their business right out of their garage and have built it into a large, successful local company with phones ringing off the hook. Now that they have experienced this success, how are they planning on capitalizing on it? Franchising.
Franchising can be very profitable - just look at all of the fast food chains out there. However, the reason many companies don’t do it is because they haven’t created a repeatable, turnkey operation. Many companies are only as successful as the productivity of their people that day. If one or several of those people were to leave, the business would crumble.
How can a business create a successful, turnkey operation? Here are a few tips:
- Clear strategy and goals.
- Easy to understand, easy to use operating systems.
- Defined and followed marketing and sales strategy.
- Employee alignment and accountability.
There are many other factors that play into the success of a turnkey operation, but in my opinion, these are the most important. And although they are important…very often they are not in place.
The company that we are working with has seen its share of ups and downs. It has made mistakes and continues to find challenges. The one thing that they do realize however, is that being proactive on these four items is key. They have found partners to help them with each of these and work truly as a partner - learning and improving each day.
They realize that developing their operations manual into systems that are easy to understand and repeatable from the very beginning have paid off in the end. Building their franchise has been less costly and more efficient because of their proactive approach.