Chapter 17: Building a Collaborative Franchise Community

No one understands the everyday life of a franchisee quite like franchisees do. Franchisors are beholden to create their own support and guiding documents. However, unless they also own a unit or territory, they do not know what it takes to operate the franchise day in and day out. As such, it’s incredibly important that franchisees connect to create their own support networks and relationships beyond the technical and operational guidance provided by the franchisor. And though the franchisor is often not closely involved in the day-to-day progressions of these relationships, the leadership team can play a role in encouraging connection.

One of the most important steps, which is already common in the franchising space, is to conduct some sort of annual or semi-annual get-together. This allows franchisees to gather in a common area, meet new additions to the team, connect with long-time colleagues, and realign with the franchisor’s goals or vision.

“It’s absolutely crucial that we gather,” said Bryan Park, founder and CEO of Footprints Floors*. “It’s a big part of who we are and what we do, and big franchises need it. We’re all scattered around the country. It’s all a very positive thing. I could imagine if we weren’t getting together year after year, people would just start to spiral to their own individual islands and potentially become lonely.”

In addition to annual conventions and other franchisor-sponsored events, franchisee connections can be independently created by the franchisees themselves. With the right model and culture in place, it should come almost naturally.

Franchisors’ Roles in Creating a Strong Baseline

There are franchises in which individual franchisees reach out to peers for guidance on their own accord or, on the flip side, grow to be unofficial trusted mentors within the system thanks to their consistent availability and willingness to teach. 

It is a common practice during the earlier stages of onboarding for a franchisor to connect a new franchisee with a more established one to facilitate a mentorship relationship. Franchise business coaches, who are either fellow franchisees or members of the corporate team, are also a common occurrence. With the franchisor backing these relationships and sometimes implementing a check-in schedule, franchisees can feel more comfortable with and accountable for approaching the resource.

Establishing a Franchisee Advisory Council, which leverages a group of franchisees to speak on behalf of the larger network, is another way to gain insight into what franchisees need while encouraging them to express their thoughts and concerns as a collective group. Some franchisors handpick the members of this council themselves, and others put the group together with the help of franchisee polling, allowing each owner to have a say in who will be representing their interests to the corporate team.

Ongoing Collaborative Efforts

Franchisees’ ability to stay connected on an everyday basis is a powerful growth driver as well.

“With Footprints Floors, there’s a chat line for day-in, day-out questions within the group,” explained Bobby Moorhead, a Footprints Floors franchisee. “If you’re not sure about something, you can take a picture and send it to everyone. Someone can identify some wood, for example, within seconds. In just a few minutes, you can get about 15 responses with the other franchisees’ opinions. You’ve got a lot of folks there with varied areas of expertise. It’s helpful to play along and even just read the chats when you have time.”

Even in a franchise system with a robust training and support system, by the nature of franchisees’ previous professional experience, market demand and personal interests, owners can have a range of experiences and expertise. Creating a single hub for franchisee collaboration and communication makes it quick and easy for local owners to share perspectives, personal triumphs, challenges and other important data on a day-to-day basis.

Not only is this valuable for the information dissemination aspect, but it also leads to a stronger bond between owners. Even though they are not seeing each other each day, having a digital community that is truly engaged and supportive lifts everyone up.

Why Collaboration Matters

It’s easy for franchisees to feel that they are in silos, especially when owners are scattered across a wide geographic area. Keeping everyone connected is beneficial to the health of the brand, which is helpful, in the long term, to the franchisor. 

However, happy franchisees are one of the many perks associated with strong collaborative efforts. Because they are at the heart of the business’s daily operations, franchisee collaboration can provide valuable insights to the franchisor, allowing the leadership team to continue to grow and evolve based on the observations of those who are really “in it” rather than quantitative data and thought leadership developed from a distance.