PRESENTATION OUTLINE
The Secret to Expansion and Multi-Unit Franchise Ownership: Support Systems and Trusted Managers
The benefits of multi-unit franchising are well known by now: more cost-efficient marketing, greater access to supplies, the ability to buffer underperformance, and much more flexible staffing options. Franchising insiders counsel against expanding too quickly or when you’re not quite ready, though these factors may entice many franchisees to do so anyway.
To gain the benefits of leveraged buying power, staffing and training efficiency, and greater negotiating power and control over your expansion via area development agreements that come with expanding and embracing multi-unit franchising, you have to be financially, professionally, and even emotionally prepared for the commitment.
Topics of Discussion
- Negotiating the Switch from Owner-Operator to Overseeing Manager
- Traits You’ll Want to Cultivate for Multi-Unit Expansion
- The Importance of Support Systems and Trusted Managers
- Delegating and Managing from Afar
1. Taking advantage of these benefits means expanding from an owner-operator model with a single franchisee location. This requires appointing overseeing managers to ensure the smooth operation of multiple locations. To do this, you need to assess your own professional skill-set and work on creating a strong support team at all of your locations.
2. Many of the traits that make great single owner-operator franchisees—characteristics like coachability and willingness to listen, a strong work ethic and a willingness to (at least initially) put in a few more hours, and a dedication to delivering stellar customer service and bringing all of your interpersonal skills to the fore—are still necessary qualities for multi-unit franchisees today. The profitable franchise landscape is changing, and multi-unit franchising ownership is becoming the norm. An incredible three-fourths of restaurant franchisees are signing on for a multi-unit development agreement.
3. You’re obviously looking for the easiest way to enjoy multi-unit benefits like streamlined training, co-branding opportunities, and economies of scale while remaining faithful to the franchisor’s vision and your own professional goals. The simplest way to accomplish all of these goals is to focus on solid recruitment and operational efficiency at all of your locations. Focusing on recruitment facilitates a self-sustaining atmosphere in which the manager’s job is greatly simplified. This automatically streamlines the overseeing manager’s job. Having said that, you should still consult metrics to find out which managers and management styles are working best for which locations.
Disclaimer: This information is not intended as an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, a franchise. It is for information purposes only. Currently, the following states regulate the offer and sale of franchises: California, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. If you are a resident of or want to locate a franchise in one of these states, we will not offer you a franchise unless and until we have complied with applicable pre-sale registration and disclosure requirements in your state. Franchise offerings are made by Franchise Disclosure Document only.
