Reject Franchise Development BS and Lead With Your Culture
Imagine this scenario …
An individual interested in buying a franchise asks a thoughtful question …
... he’s looking to buy a franchise, has identified a small emerging franchise brand that he is interested in and he’s looking for advice …
He doesn’t know what he doesn’t know, and asks about the steps he can take and the advice he should consider, to make sure he’s making the right decision and how to protect himself …
This thoughtful franchise buyer gets two types of responses. The first type of response that he gets is honest and genuine. It’s focused on educating the franchise buyer about the importance of selecting the right franchisor, the importance of sharing similar values, and the importance of validating the experiences of other franchisees. The second type of response that he gets is the BS ... it’s a solicitation with links to other franchise opportunities...it’s advice that ignores his question and tells him that he needs to line up franchising right now … it’s more solicitations without any thoughtful connection.
Before we start blaming the Karen’s of the world for our bad franchisee problems (see, our Bottom Thoughts) it’s time to align our Fran Development with our culture. It’s time to reject and oppose the BS as we build scaffolding around our franchisees.
SoBol - Inspired by his family’s successful ice house, Jason Mazzaronecreated the Acai Café in 2012. Jason took his culinary arts degree and background as a chef and teamed up Co-founder Jim Kalomiris, a long time family friend with more than 20 years experience in restaurant management, real estate and construction. Since opening, SoBol has grown rapidly and is a franchised brand.
The management team at SoBol prides themselves on "keeping it simple" in terms of both ingredients and operations to keep purchasing, inventory, and quality control in focus.
The career educator is opening his first business with the fast-growing supplemental education franchise.
After 25 years working as a teacher, principal and superintendent, career educator Israel Cordero is bringing Sylvan Learning, the 750-plus unit supplemental education franchise, to Central Dallas.
Cordero has signed to open the area’s first Sylvan center, which will open virtually on September 7 before opening at a physical location early next year. Cordero says he has spent his entire career trying to innovate in the education field, and that journey led him directly to Sylvan.
Yo Broker, Sell My Franchise
Marilyn Imparato, The Franchise Consulting Company
Marilyn Imparato, a senior consultant at The Franchise Consulting Company, has extensive experience in nearly every corner of the franchising industry — ownership, franchise operations and advisory consulting.
In addition to this experience, Imparato has personally been in the same position as many of the prospective franchise owners she works with as a consultant. Since transitioning out of a leadership role in corporate America to becoming a franchisee 15 years ago, Imparato has been a semi-absentee owner, an owner-operator and an absentee owner with several brands. Today, as a consultant, Imparato has direct experience with franchise models — their culture, support, tools and processes — and knows how to match those models with the right candidates.
When it comes to what success looks like for her, Imparato says it's simple: everyone has to win before her. “If I do right by the candidate, and they end up happy with their choice of franchise, then I feel like I have done the very best job I can do,” she said. “I am also making the franchisor happy by bringing someone who is passionate about their model, and that creates the perfect marriage. Once those two parties win, I win. Winning as a franchise broker is all about putting others first.”
The Franchise Consulting Company is an international franchise consultancy with hundreds of franchise companies around the world. If you are a potential franchisee looking to invest or a franchisor looking to attract new candidates, contact The Franchise Consulting Company at https://www.thefranchiseconsultingcompany.com/.
The Bottom Thoughts
Default them.
Fire them.
Terminate them.
Cancel them.
Just don’t call them “Karen."
Franchisors deal with this every day -- “bad franchisees”. But, what are your options, legally (you will have to watch this week’s video -- and while you are at it, subscribe to our channel)?
But, before you do anything, backcast. Think back to the moment you said yes. Part of you believed they would be awesome, succeed, grow and be your buddy.
Go back there. Get warm and fuzzy. Then mediate. Talk with them about the misses. See what scaffolding they are missing. Is it financial? Is it misaligned expectations? Before you act, think. Don’t rush to judgement, try finding another pathway back to reset.
Nick Powills, CFE, founded No Limit Agency in 2008 and serves as Chief Brand Strategist for the Chicago-based firm. No Limit is a full-service communications agency that establishes and elevates brands by bridging Public Relations, Social Media, Marketing, Advertising, Digital, and a lot of creativity, to best strategize well-rounded and successful campaigns for 50+ global franchise brands. By presenting visionary ideas and building real relationships, No Limit is able to create effective media branding strategies to help companies grow. Nick currently leads a staff of writers, media strategists, designers, social media experts and digital producers in an office think-tank where brands are humanized for strong, compelling media stories. Prior to starting No Limit at the age of 27, Nick spent four years working at a franchise PR agency where he mastered the art of building rapport with media outlets and creating newsworthy pitches for earned media placements. He holds a Bachelor of Journalism from Drake University in Iowa.
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