Many franchisees seem reluctant to be the drivers. Instead, the franchisee often takes a backseat position, which means someone else must do the driving. So who will be the driver? Usually, there will be several drivers, each taking turn, not one of them wanting the job or even being conscious of having the front seat driving role!
* The driver of the franchise could be the staff ... who, in the absence of leadership might take the franchisee for the ride of his or her life. If staff are not subject to strong leadership, they can rule the roost and run amok, plunging the business into ruin and tainting the total franchise operation into the bargain. Imagine if a particular car maker's brand was used exclusively by the worst possible drivers; in no time at all the brand would take on a hideous image. Staff do not want to be in the driver's seat, they have no licence and no ambition to replace the driver, but hey, if the cat's away ...
* The driver of the franchise could be the competition ... who, in the absence of value-driven opposition, will steer the franchise into submission ... using either passion or price to get to their chosen destination. Fancy having your franchise piloted by the very people you are trying to out-perform! All the opposition is doing is what they know best, they're allowed to do that and they hope to win some business in the process. The last thing they expect is that an opponent in the form of a potentially strong franchise will complain rather than campaign. Thank you very much!
* The driver of the franchise could be the franchisor ... who, if given this responsibility will have to treat the franchisee like a model aeroplane! Expecting that the franchisor will drive the business is the equivalent of getting married and then asking mum and dad to supervise the wedding night!
* The driver of the franchise could be 'economic circumstances' ... who comprise several potential villains all rolled into one huge blameworthy culprit. This dastardly detractor of dollars could include all levels of government, the weather, the banks, the state of this industry and competitive industries, consumer confidence, currency exchange rates and anything else you can think of that might cause delays, detours and stoppages en route to franchising success.
Blaming poor results on economic circumstances is like crashing into a wall after falling asleep at the wheel of your car, and then suggesting that the wall was the cause of the accident!
And what of the franchisor? A quality franchise, like a quality car, must be improved on a very regular basis, and a controlled 'success maintenance' programme must be offered that is uncompromising. Franchisors should not make the same mistake made by car manufacturers, who outline a fine looking maintenance programme to go with their cars and then leave it up to us to 'remember' to book our car in for servicing. If we don't remember then a degree of failure is guaranteed!
Franchisors must remove 'success options' from franchisees, and introduce a programme of commitment that ensures everyone travels with conviction in the direction of increasing value and continued success.
Successful franchisors secretly act as though every franchise will only be owned temporarily, which leads to them doing everything possible to ensure the customers of the franchise are well satisfied - everything that is, except take the driving seat. This attitude bodes very well for the incumbent franchisee, for as long or short a period as he or she is there, and for anyone else that assumes the driving role.
A franchise should preferably resemble a finely-tuned racing car, happy to take on all forms of competition, complete with an accomplished driver who is motivated and prepared to focus on driving and winning. And waiting for such a car is the crew in the pits, the franchisor's people, ready and willing to help the driver in any way that will lead to victory. Why? Well without any question, winning in the world of franchising is nothing short of a team effort!
A Franchise Is Like A Car… But Who’s In The Driving Seat? - To learn more about this author, visit John Lees's Website.
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John Lees
(Visit John's Website)
Former director of marketing & sales for
Schwarzkopf in Australia and NZ, achieving
market leadership (against the giants
'L'Oreal and Wella) and best operations
internationally for the organisation. Then
worked as a consultant to the German
company in the US, Canada, the UK, South
Africa and leading Western European
markets. These days operates as a speaker,
trainer and consultant...specialising in
sales & marketing. Author of 10 books on
business development and a member of the
Institiute of management consultants.
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