franchising-help

Now that summer is upon us, I’ve been spending more time on boats and around the water. Here in Minnesota (as in most places), we’re required to have life preservers on board to comply with the state’s boating laws. Not only does everyone need access to a wearable life jacket of their own, but the boat must have a throwable life preserver in a location that is easy to access in an emergency. This means it can’t be tucked away in a cabinet somewhere, but must be out in the open where it can be grabbed at a moment’s notice.

When was the last time you had a problem - but you didn’t know who to talk to about it? Sometimes things come up - BIG things - that weigh heavy, but you don’t know who to turn to for advice. 

Are you doing everything you can to avoid failure in building your franchise system? 

Looking back on my decades of experience in the franchise industry, I believe there is one thing that contributed to my success more than anything else: my participation in a business owners’ mastermind group.

As we’ve talked about in the past, building a positive organizational culture is critical to the success of your franchise business. And while we all know the BIG mistakes that can spell ruin for the business (obviously don’t lie, cheat or steal), there are subtler, but equally dangerous, issues that often trip up franchisors - and can make it challenging for them to build a strong and long-lasting culture in the organization.

We’ve all been there. Maybe it’s been a while - but it happens!

How would you describe the relationship between you and your franchisees?

Culture is really important to franchising. It goes along with your organization’s values to drive behavior and impact decisions. It’s there in the communication, respect and attitude of everyone in your organization.

Trust: It takes years to build and seconds to lose.

People matter - we know that. Nothing has been more obvious in my career than the fact that people make all the difference.