This is Part 1 of an 8 Part series that dives into the eight key benefits of having an advisory board and how it can help you, the business owner, achieve greater levels of success.
If your planning strategy mirrors many franchise organizations, you probably completed the majority of your annual planning before the year even began - hopefully with enough detail and accountability to ensure it’s implemented effectively. And while much of the planning I’m involved in through my Board work is at the franchisor level, it’s just as important for smaller franchisees to plan, too. In fact, the yearly planning process can provide a unique opportunity for franchisees and franchisors to collaborate and create a planning process together. When I was with Cost Cutters and City Looks, for example, we included a support team from the corporate office that would sit down with the owners and review their business information. Together, they’d review each unit to find out the following:
From disaster planning to maintaining accountability, there are a number of great reasons why every serious (franchise) company should have a board. But sometimes, despite the best intentions of a company, the board simply isn’t creating the value for the organization that it expects. Whether it’s a lack of time on behalf of the business owner, or irreconcilable differences among its members, there may be only one option that makes sense for everyone involved. It’s an option I like to call “unboarding.”
