FranX | How Monopoly Can Help Make Sense of the Franchisee Journey

The Next McDonald's (Big Idea)

We’ve all played the game of Monopoly, and the lessons come fast.

You can’t win by just passing go and collecting $200.

To win, you must acquire properties and invest in revenue-generating assets.

Like Monopoly, your franchisee candidates are looking to go beyond the weekly paycheck and invest in a revenue-generating asset.

So, is your franchise brand Park Place, Pennsylvania Avenue or Baltic Avenue?

Connecting with franchisee candidates requires a deeper understanding of the franchisee journey, what they are looking for, and how your franchise can help them win the game.

Consider:

Pass Go, Collect $200

The $200 helps, but it’s never enough to win the game.

Buy Property

You need properties to win. They form the foundation.

Invest and Build

Once you have a property, winning requires investment. You buy homes and hotels.

Invest Wisely

Sure, we all want to own Park Place, but you just may go bankrupt trying to acquire and build on it.

Recurring Salary

A recurring salary is great, but it’s not enough.

Buy a Franchise

Your brand must represent a wealth-building asset.

Invest and Grow

Your brand must afford additional opportunities for ever-increasing growth and profitability.

Right Fit

Aligned expectations are critical. If you franchisees don’t understand the investment or have the right capital, the relationship will go bust.

If your brand were a Monopoly property, what would be the revenue-generating stats on the back of your card?

Understanding a winning Monopoly strategy can help you unlock the franchisee journey. It’s all basic — a board game, really — but ignore these basics in your communications and digital story.

Tell your franchisees how they can win and how your team has their back!

News You Can (Actually) Use

How Chick-fil-A Dominates 'Brand Intimacy' — And What Brands Can Learn From It

A recent study by MBLM measures the emotional bonds customers have had with quick-service restaurant brands during the pandemic, including Chick-fil-A, McDonald’s and Starbucks.

Pentagon Loses Track of $35 Trillion — Yes, $35 Trillion

They are not sure if the money was double-counted between accounts or lost. Imagine if your business lost track of $1 million. Now multiply that by 35 million.

Franchisees Kicking Ass: The Franchisee Is King

The Great Franchisee: David Giesen, Slim Chickens, Streetsboro, Ohio

David Giesen was living in Ohio with his wife and working as a medical sales representative when he was approached by his father-in-law to consider opening a franchise as a way to make more income. Giesen’s father-in-law owned a piece of land that was garnering a lot of interest from restaurant chains.

Giesen eventually left his career in medical sales as he began growing with the Arby’s franchise in Ohio. Fast forward 30 years and Giesen is opening his first Slim Chickens, a fast-casual franchise specializing in chicken tenders and wings, in Streetsboro, Ohio with his son and son-in-law. Looking ahead, Giesen plans to make this location the largest Slim Chickens in the Midwest and hopes to continue opening more locations with the brand.

Yo Broker, Sell My Franchise

Wow, crazy to look back at older content. Bob McQuillan, former VP of Franchise Development of Hand & Stone; and Randall Henderson, VP of Commercial and Residential for Property Management Inc.*, discuss how they tackled the challenges of COVID-19.

What story is your brand giving to the broker community how you navigated COVID. Better have a good story — support is king.

The Bottom Thoughts

In life, most people play the game of Monopoly wrong. Imagine, if you will, playing the game of Monopoly and only doing one thing: lollygagging around the board and only collecting $200 when you pass Go.

No doubt, you would lose the game. Why? Your cohorts would focus on collecting properties, buying homes and turning those little green guys into beautiful red hotels.

You would be stuck with your hands in your pockets because, well, you just had a little cash that got handed off to others when you landed on their properties.

Now, there is a chance that, for some of you, this is how you approach your life today. You collect paychecks and hand it right back over to the people who make the big bones. This could be franchisees before they become franchisees; this could be founders before they found.

The beauty of franchising is that eventually, a future buyer wants more. They want more for their family and more for themselves. So, they quit a job, invest their life’s savings and buy a franchise.

They become the Monopoly dude.

Paint this picture for your prospects. Either send them the Parker Bro’s game or simply tell them the story that it is time to get off their butts and desire more than passing Go and collecting $200. And, while you’re at it, take a good look in the mirror, too, and make sure that’s not you as well.

Correction: In last week's edition, we mentioned Lemonade as a Killer Brand, implying that is a franchise. Please note that Lemonade has not begun offering franchises. That was an error on our part. (But it’s still a Killer Brand!)