What I Wish I’d Known About Franchise Operations

For small business owners, one of the biggest advantages of franchising is a refined operations model. Rather than building a business from scratch and learning from their own mistakes, franchisees hit the ground running with a business that has already been fine-tuned for success.

But for franchisors, a good operations model is not a set-and-forget proposition. Consumer preferences, economic climate and a host of other external factors demand that operations stay durable and adaptable, and a growing franchise system requires constant maintenance to ensure operational consistency.

Most every franchise company’s corporate office has an entire team of people working exclusively on operations. And unlike franchisees, those operations professionals don’t have a playbook to follow; they write the playbook.

We asked franchise executives from eight brands what they wish they’d known about franchise operations when they started. Here’s what they told us.

Mike Sebazco, Vice President of Operations for MOOYAH Burgers, Fries & Shakes*

If you’re not a good listener when you first get into franchising, you will be soon, or you’ll find yourself somewhere else. Franchise partners are the lifeblood of the organization. Their entrepreneurial spirit combined with your system can be an incredibly powerful tool. To harness that, you’ve got to create the right environment for the franchisee to thrive, and that requires a lot of listening.

Sarah Meriam, Director of Franchise Operations for Port City Java

I think the two biggest lessons I learned after getting into franchising were how to celebrate the small victories and the value of answering the question, “why?” Having grown up with the PCJ brand in Corporate Operations, I came to our franchise operations department with an unrealistic ideal of what it was going to be like working with franchisees. I took for granted the fact that I was now working with business owners, not just other managers, and I had to justify every decision that was being made. And even in doing that, when we had great justification, sometimes that was not good enough. I’ve heard several people say that working in franchising, especially in the FBC role, is a very thankless job and that became apparent to me very quickly. But, six-plus years later, after building solid relationships with the franchisees still in our system, there are some days and some small details that don’t always need the full, “why,” explanation and that is definitely a victory.

Mike Gould, Founder and CEO of Hounds Town USA

I didn’t know quite how much specialization franchise operations would require. We have specialized attorneys, specialized accountants, and a million other specialists. Franchising is a completely unique way of running a business. It seems fairly simple from the outside — you buy a territory, build a team, promote a product, etcetera — but there are so many more intricacies and moving parts behind the scenes.

Scott SirLouis, Chief Operating Officer for Beef ‘O’ Brady’s

Influential leadership skills are critical to success. This isn’t something taught at business schools. The importance of relationships in any business, but especially the franchise business, is something too often underestimated.

Matt Kelton, Chief Operation Officer for Showhomes

There’s more psychology and politics than I realized, and it’s extremely important to be able to navigate those things. You have to wear a number of hats in this role, and you have to be able to keep your cool. Franchisees need to vent, and that’s a good thing. But you need to be able to listen and respond appropriately and effectively. At the same time, you need to be a cheerleader for the brand, so you have to take different approaches to different tasks and groups of people. There are a lot of waters to navigate.

Margaret Haynes, Chief Operating Officer for Right at Home*

Having no prior experience in franchising before Right at Home, I wish I would have known more about the psychology of franchising. More specifically, a greater appreciation for the various nuances that come with working with independent business operators and the importance of understanding where each franchisee is coming from in order to help them get where they want to go. Because each franchise is independently owned, which also means each franchisee has their own set of opinions and ideas, a considerable amount of time is spent winning the hearts and minds of every franchisee. That’s also why having strong engagement between the individual franchisees and the corporate office is extremely important.  

Todd Crowe, Director of Operations for Pool Scouts*

Though we are fairly young as a brand, Pool Scouts has a great team in place. Our marketing team, led by Gwen Marsh, has been phenomenal in promoting Pool Scouts from a National level down to the local communities our owners live and work in; Michael Wagner, our brand president, brings a wealth of knowledge in running a business from a high level; and Timothy Holadia, our director of franchise development, brings many years of experience in brand development. This is an incredibly driven and fun-to-work-with team.

Gigi Schweikert, President and Chief Operating Officer for Lightbridge Academy*

[I wish I’d known] a lot of things. What stands out the most is the importance of helping people understand the “why” behind every decision. In franchising, we are very focused on consistency. We want people to follow the model, and they are much more likely to follow the model if they know the reasons the model is designed the way it is and why it will make them more profitable