Make the Most of the Franchisee/Franchisor Relationship

The success of a franchising business hangs totally on the franchisee/franchisor relationship. And the relationship itself rests on two pillars: trust and communication. The whole business of franchising is about trust. The franchisor trusts the franchisee; that’s why he offers the franchisee his brand-name that he has built with years of hard work.

On the other hand, the franchisee puts his life savings in the hands of the franchisor, trusting that his business model will deliver what it promises. So, it is very imperative that they maintain the mutual trust with each other. The franchisor will have to trust the franchisee that he can run the business exactly the way he has trained him to. If he interferes too much or keeps too much control, then the franchisee will soon feel suffocated.



Similarly, the franchisee must not do something that will break the trust. He must not change the system of running the business without informing the franchisor. He is supposed to remember that he is a member of a team and his actions will have ripple-effect on the entire franchising chain.

Say for example, if a fast-food chain is not strict with food-safety measurements and is caught, then far-off units too lose customers, resulting in downgrade of profit. The way this can be avoided is only by keeping the channel of communication open.

While meeting the franchisor for the first time, the franchisee should keep a note of what questions are to be asked. Each and every point of the UFOC and other documents should be clarified. Moreover, a franchisee must not hesitate to call up the support lines whenever there is any problem they cannot handle. To make themselves heard, they are required to attend the national and regional meetings too.

Even a single-unit operator has all the rights to a good and cordial franchisor/franchisee relationship as does a multi-unit operator. As for the franchisor, he is required to make sure that he is always available to the franchisees. Keep all lines of written communication open like email, newsletters and other study materials. But the franchisor ought to talk to the franchisee from time to time, because many a things are cleared when two persons talk face-to-face. Do not discourage a franchisee, if he has some suggestions for running up the business; as he can know more about the local market than the franchisor does.

Furthermore, the franchisor has to trust the business sense of the franchisee. In conclusion, it can be said the franchisor/franchisee relationship is lot like a marriage: the partners have to trust each other, learn to listen to each other and give each other some room to grow.





Make the Most of the Franchisee/Franchisor Relationship - To learn more about this author, visit Ray Flores's Website.

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