How often do you go into a business and you find yourself weaving through mobs of people, tables, or any other logical obstacle you might encounter? Probably too often, right? In today’s society, it is an unspoken rule that getting from point A to point B should be as simple as possible. This is a concept that absolutely carries over into your franchise system, not just on a surface level for your customers, but on a structural level as well when assisting your franchisees with the buildout of your franchise locations.
As a franchisor, it is in your best interest to have the buildout of your franchise down to a science before you start the franchise process, but this can often not be the case for many young systems. Or more common yet, the franchisor knows what works for their buildout, but you don’t take the time to put it to paper thus leading your franchisees to cause mistakes that could have been avoided throughout the building phase of their franchise. Today, we’re talking about how everyone can benefit from being as specific as possible when describing your buildout plan in your franchise documents. But first, let’s take a look at why it’s important to do this in the first place.
Every franchise concept has a “special sauce,” as I like to say. This is what makes your system stand out against your competitors. Oftentimes, this special sauce has a visual aspect to it – whether you are in the beverage crafting industry where your customers enjoy watching their drinks being made or if you’re in the child development industry and your customers are parents and guardians who want to be able to observe their children at work. As a franchisor, ask yourself “does my franchise system have a visual component that allows us to stand out?” If the answer is yes and you’re able to identify what that unique trait is, let’s move on to how to document this component in black and white.
When drafting your informational materials for your franchisees, it is crucial that you provide as much detail as possible. Let’s use the size of an average location as an example. Oftentimes, franchisors will provide a range for their franchisees to represent how large a location should be. While this may seem like the best way to describe a potential location since market size could vary, it could actually be detrimental to your franchisees. In your franchise system, you are the expert. Giving your franchisees the leeway to determine which size is best for their location is not necessarily what is going to be best for their location. Creating specific details on a micro-level helps everyone avoid problems in the long-run.
Back to my original point about highlighting your “secret sauce.” You know what makes your business the success that it is. Why not take this into your own hands to make sure the spotlight is positioned just right? Tomorrow’s Franchise Euphoria interview highlights a system that prides themselves on not only mapping out the smallest detail of each of their facilities but actually building it out themselves for every franchisee. That way, they know that each location is set up for success before handing it off to someone else. This is certainly something you should consider for your franchise system, especially if you don’t already have a designated person to lead your buildout efforts. Getting quality franchisees to invest in your system requires you to invest in it as well, otherwise your system could pale in comparison to any competitors who took their time to map out their success.
