5 Ways Franchisors Can Set Their Franchisees Up For Operational Success

Mark LoDuca began as a Zone Manager at Little Ceasers in 2010. When a new franchisee would open a store, it was LoDuca’s job to act as a consultant to make sure that the franchisee was set across the board. He worked with the franchisees on a variety of areas, including local marketing, reviewing financial statements, choosing real estate and understanding operations. He says he was a bit of a “jack of all trades” in the position.

His end goal was always to become a franchisee, but the problem with Michigan is that there weren’t many open territories. As a corporate employee, he kept his ears open to hear about any potential business opportunities. When an existing franchisee was looking to sell four of his locations, LoDuca jumped at the chance and scooped up three of his four locations in Westland and Taylor.

In addition to connecting with LoDuca to learn more about his experience in operations, 1851 Franchise also spoke with Mike Speck, the COO of The Halal Guys, who has a long history in franchising and has been with the company since 2015. Together, the two of them provide five ways that brands can set their franchisees up for operational success.

1. Extensive hands-on in-person training

New Little Ceasers franchisees go through an eight-week training program in Detroit where they work in the stores and go through everything from business training to POS software training with the goal to open at the end of those eight weeks. Similarly, The Halal Guys has a four-week training program in New York where new franchisees go through the litany of job positions, management functions and technical understanding and restaurant exposure where they are also introduced to store operating process.

“During those four weeks, they’re oriented to the new store opening checklist and operating process, which includes all the bullet points and key milestones to open a restaurant,” said Speck. “We focus on hands-on and training in New York. They’re teamed up side-by-side with certified corporate trainers who are with them the whole time and overseen by a validated corporate manager.”

2. Field staff for the launch

Although the initial in-person training is critical, and the videos and manuals are accessible, the question – “what now?” – looms when it’s time to actually franchise a location. Because of this, both Little Ceasers and The Halal Guys send field team members to help with the initial opening.

“Once the location opens, you get a few corporate people – like what I did in my former position – to help at store openings for a full week, and then you’d have another person come out the second week,” said LoDuca. “Little Ceasers starts out with a few weeks of coverage, and after that, there’s more follow-up and phone calls talking about business plans and growth going forward.”

The Halal Guys also pairs the franchisee with a field director of operations that guides them through the pre-opening training steps and sends one or two corporate trainers to help after orientation through the first week of business.

“Each franchisee is sorted into a region under the director of operations, who is then responsible is for recurring visits and helping franchisees with their business plan, people development, operating responsibilities and understanding their goals,” said Speck. “They really are there to build a relationship with the franchisee.”

3. Regular check-ins

Little Ceasers corporate employees are required to visit the stores at least twice a year and they do a store review on a location during that visit.

“They have a checklist and they look at everything from a compliance standpoint - not just from Little Ceasers’ standards, but also what local governments look for. The review things like health expectations, product quality and customer service,” said LoDuca.

If corporate discovers a problem in a review, they follow-up on the outstanding issues and provide tips regarding things the franchisee could do that can help their business.

The Halal Guys’ corporate team aims to send a corporate team member to each location on a monthly basis. Similarly to the Little Ceaser check-ins, they go through the business plan and goals that have been established, and they go through quality assurance audits and mystery shop results.

“These in-person meetings are all about driving sales, and of course, to review adherence to standards, policies and procedures,” said Speck.

4. Unexpected third-party reviewers

As mentioned above, The Halal Guys utilize third-party reviews to make sure everything is in check at a location. The team uses a variety of third-party quality control programs with a food safety and quality assurance audit and a mystery shop program. The reviews are measured closely against operating standards on an ongoing basis to ensure franchisees are not cutting corners.

5. Monthly system-wide calls

Speck believes that the key is communication. The Halal Guys has a standing first of the month franchisee update communication call. The company bundles any communication and sends it out on the first of the month, and they then follow it up with a conference call to go through topics and open phone lines for questions.

“All franchisees can listen in, talk and get the overview, which is the most powerful part,” said Speck. “Everyone gets so many emails these days, but on a call, someone can read out loud and people can ask questions or clarify exactly what they’re trying to understand. It is a great way to close the communication gap. I like the old school approach because we can’t all be in the same room, but we can all dial-in.”

With all of these training and support programs in place, franchisors like Little Ceasers and The Halal Guys are putting their franchisees’ success at the forefront and giving them the tools and guidelines to succeed