The Franchise Manual Podcast
The Franchise Manual Podcast is about all things "Franchise" and the people that make it look easy.
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Episode #36 - Branding Your Franchise
01/26/2024
Episode #36 - Branding Your Franchise
My Podner in this episode is Jordis Small and she’s going to talk with us today about branding. Branding is a word that is used in many contexts and sometimes misused and misunderstood. Jordis promises to clear all of that up for us today. This will be a fun ride Note: Ms. Jordis is recovering from a nasty cold and she lost her voice. The voice is scratchy but the content is GOLDEN. Time Stamps Jordis Small Intro 00:00:32 Segment 1 00:02:42 Get to know Jordis Small Segment 2 00:18:00 Topic Segment – Branding Your Franchise Segment 3 01:14:12 Quickdraw Questions Topics Discussed in this Episode What is your brand? Most folks think it’s logo, fonts, colors... It’s much more Why do you need to know your brand better than your spouse? Are you prepared to articulate your brand to potential franchisees? How to audit your own brand... Test your logo to see if it’s good, is everything in alignment with the vision of the company, will people understand it with you telling them? What makes a GOOD logo? Is your logo scalable, timeless, and appropriate for growth? Why do you need a robust brand guide before franchising? What is worth including, like color usage ect… How to set up your franchise for success through creating an asset library. Basically pre making various marketing materials for them so they don’t DIY. Why does this brand work now? Prepare for growth and longevity. Jordis Small Stellen Design 310-418-6287 Kit Vinson 214-736-3939 x 101
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Episode #35 - The Challenges of Scaling to Over 50 Units
04/14/2023
Episode #35 - The Challenges of Scaling to Over 50 Units
My Podner in this episode is Tom Wells and he’s going to talk with us today about the challenges of scaling a brand over 50 units. It’s a moving target and things change, and he’s going to share some REALLY COOL stuff with us today. Time Stamps Tom Wells Intro 00:00:31 Segment 1 00:02:13 Get to know Tom Wells Segment 2 00:27:05 Topic Segment – Challenges of Scaling to Over 50 Units Segment 3 01:06:27 Quickdraw Questions Topics Discussed in this Episode Key areas franchisors miss in their first year: This ultimately comes down to People, Process, and Prioritization. Many entrepreneurs didn’t become entrepreneurs to focus on process and structure – the most successful ones hire around this need. People: You ave to get the best team and figure out where to hire over time. Requires culture of accountability which sounds easy but is difficult to implement. Additionally, the founder(s) need to manage their people, but also give them authority to execute. Process: What works at 10 units or 20 units, doesn’t work at 50+ units. A leader or team can run around putting fires out at 10 units, but you can’t do this at 50+ units. Many organizations never think about what process is needed to make better decisions over time. Additionally, need to want to get and understand the right data which is hard with limited resources. Prioritization: Everyone has a day job; can only take on a few big strategic initiatives at a time. Most founders have a list of 20 major initiatives they want their team to do at any time. Some get done, some don’t – all of them are not done at the highest level. We spend a lot of time focusing each year on what are the main ones to provide the biggest benefit to the business (this is very hard) and then helping the teams focus on these items. Do this repeatedly and the business constantly evolves nicely. Being Ready to Grow: To grow from the concept stage, you need the below but I always start with “If it’s a great investment for the franchisee, the brand will generally do very well”: Great unit economics: This is almost impossible to fix along the way. If the concept doesn’t work from the start, it’s unlikely to have better unit economics along the way. Our view is 3 year or better payback is top 25%. Anything better is best in class. We also look at store level margin as it provides insight into cushion for franchisee performance (ie: very low margin has limited room for error). Differentiation: It’s important to have something that sets a brand apart from its competitors. This applies to all concepts regardless of industry. Tons of competition in restaurants, how are we getting a competitor to pick us vs their 100 other options (product, service, experience, technology). In services, there are tons of local companies that can do plumbing, why pick a franchise (marketing, service, answer phones, clean looking techs, technology, etc.) Structure / Process : This is different from the process above. This is being able to sign franchise agreements knowing that you are growing a repeatable concept (ops manuals and guides, trade design, product, branding). You don’t want different menus at different locations, different store designs, etc. Key to have something where there is benefit of scale and franchising. How brands scale: Most grow without a lot of thought of who the franchisee is and where they are growing. Need to be thoughtful here. Who the franchisee is: Over the first 10 or 20 locations, you really figure out who is the best operator for a brand. Additionally, you learn who is not a fit. These need to be addressed thoughtfully otherwise a brand will struggle with bad franchisees as it gets larger. Where you grow: It’s easy to sign franchise agreements with interested franchisees that are far away. This depends on complexity of the concept. For example, restaurants require distributions centers and are hard for corporate to help with when far away. Generally easier to go concentrically with restaurants, especially with brand loyalty. How you develop: Growth is great, but ultimately the franchisee needs to succeed. It’s better to make sure you have the right operator and right site, rather than compromising just to grow. We see so many brands that are great, but have struggling units where they compromised early – this doesn’t show up for a few years. Books Mentioned by Ben Horowitz By Laura Hillenbrand Tom Wells 404-444-3110 Kit Vinson 214-736-3939 x 101
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Episode #34 - New Franchisor Pitfalls
09/03/2022
Episode #34 - New Franchisor Pitfalls
My Podner in this episode is Michael Peterson and he’s going to talk with us today about the mistakes that new franchisors typically make during their first year of operation. Some of these mistakes can be quite expensive, while others can lead to the death of your entire system. If you are a newly minted franchisor, or if you are about to start your journey, this is one that you won’t want to miss. Time Stamps Michael Peterson Intro 00:00:31 Segment 1 00:02:37 Get to know Michael Peterson Segment 2 00:20:39 Topic Segment – New Franchisor Pitfalls Segment 3 01:03:05 Quickdraw Questions Topics Discussed in this Episode Key areas franchisors miss in their first year: Pre-launch Not getting the FDD to fully capture the business model. This leads to something so prevalent that I came up with a name for it; the 2nd year re-write. So many franchisors make massive changes to their second year FDD either because they didn’t capture the existing model in the first year, or they didn’t have someone walk them through the thought processes they should be going through on every item before they commit it to paper. Having “to be implemented” clauses in their agreements. The most common one I have seen here is a national ad fund, though I have seen tech fees quite a few times as well. When your franchisee #1 or #2 has been operating for 3 years, paying you your royalty only, and suddenly you decide your system is big enough to justify the advertising fund of 1-3%, believe me they will not be happy. Start taking this from day one, even if you turn around and spend it in their market. Cutting corners or coming in underfunded. This is probably the #1 cause of failure of young franchisors. Deciding to write an operations manual in-house, find the cheapest franchise attorney possible (or, worse yet, trying to do an FDD without a franchise attorney), not having quality marketing materials, not having funds set aside for franchise sales; these are so self-defeating. A bad operating manual can lead to system problems and even litigation. If you succeed as a franchisor you will end up using a good franchise attorney, if you start out with inexperienced or ineffective counsel, you’ll just pay in negotiation, litigation, or just headaches before you switch to better counsel. Your marketing materials are your first impression, you have to make them count. Franchise sales cost money, period. If you don’t have a good marketing budget you will struggle to grow. Think about this. Each year, you are going to spend between $6,000 and $25,000 on renewal, depending on how many registration states you go into and how complicated your audit is. I would guess the average is close to $12,000. If your lead generation spend results in one sale, then you have an extra $12,000 in costs for that sale. If you have a robust budget and someone solid handling franchise sales, and you award 3 franchisees, then the renewal is only adding $4,000 cost-per-close. Big difference. Post Launch Hands down, the biggest mistake a franchisor can make is bringing in the wrong franchisee. If you have been doing all the ‘right’ things, spending money, having a professional franchise sales person either in-house or outsourced, reaching out to brokers to talk about your brand, and 6 or 12 or even 18 months in you don’t have a franchise sale, that can be frustrating. It also might happen; the first franchisees are the hardest to find (lets delve into that). I have seen this situation cause many franchisors to award a franchise to someone they shouldn’t and regret it for years to come. Not having a culture of compliance from day 1 is another seemly small issue that will come back to haunt you. If your FA calls for quarterly or annual financials from your franchisees, get them even if you don’t know what to do with them! If your franchisees have a required add spend, monitor it from day one. Or better yet, engage with them and help them spend it correctly, but either way make sure they are spending it. If there is a clause you are not enforcing from day one, throw it out. A problem many new franchisors think they wish they had; growing too fast. I have been in this position. I am talking about 4 stores open in January and 120 open that December fast! Trust me, you don’t want this kind of growth out of the gate. Compromising to get a deal. . . I put this one last because it very well may be something you need to do. As I mentioned, first franchisee is HARD! It may be may be reasonable, appropriate, or even necessary to ‘give’ on the first franchisee, maybe even on the first few. But be careful. If you are giving a bigger territory, are you really setting that franchisee up so that there is no chance of you putting someone into the same market and putting local brand awareness 100% on their shoulders? Are you offering a refund clause that you can’t really afford, from a capital cost of onboarding stance? Make sure your attorney is involved here and be careful. And again, don’t be afraid to say no and walk away. Books Mentioned by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner By Julia Shaw Robert Jordan Michael Peterson 949-282-7304 Kit Vinson 214-736-3939 x 101
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Episode #33 - The Franchise Expo
04/14/2022
Episode #33 - The Franchise Expo
My Podner in this episode is Tom Portesy and he’s going to talk with us today about how to maximize the return on your investment at a franchise expo, how to avoid the pitfalls, and best practices that will help you represent your brand in the best light. Time Stamps Tom Portesy Intro 00:00:27 Segment 1 00:03:41 Get to know Tom Portesy Segment 2 00:18:22 Topic Segment – The Franchise Expo Segment 3 01:03:42 Quickdraw Questions Topics Discussed in this Episode What is a franchise expo Short history of the expo How to manage realistic expectations of an expo Know your objective DOs and DON’Ts at an expo Take advantage of the free training offered by MFV Spend time developing your opening line Know the value of a lead Control how much time you spend with each person Which industries do better at an expo Tom Portesy MFV Expositions Kit Vinson 214-736-3939 x 101
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Episode #32 - Marketing to Prospective Franchisees
04/01/2021
Episode #32 - Marketing to Prospective Franchisees
Jackie Hoegger talks with us today about how to market to prospective franchisees. This conversation spans topics such as website design, digital marketing, even down to how you treat your existing franchisees. This is our first episode on the topic of marketing and we came out of the chute with a GREAT one.
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Episode #31 - The Franchise Operating Manual
12/05/2020
Episode #31 - The Franchise Operating Manual
What franchisors should know about their franchise operating manual.
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Episode #30 - Site Selection, Real Estate, and Build-Out
02/04/2020
Episode #30 - Site Selection, Real Estate, and Build-Out
My Podner in this episode is Brendan Charles and he’s going to talk with us today about what franchisors should be teaching their franchisees about site selection, real estate negotiations, and build-out. Bad decisions in these areas can be detrimental to the success of the location.
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Episode #29 - Creating Customer Loyalty
10/30/2019
Episode #29 - Creating Customer Loyalty
My Podner duo in this episode is Andy Erskine and Bob Gappa of Management 2000, and they’re going to talk with us today about the importance of customer loyalty, what drives it, and how to manage it.
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Episode #28 - Generating Franchisee Leads
08/29/2019
Episode #28 - Generating Franchisee Leads
Red Boswell talks with us today about how to generate franchisee leads. This is one of the hottest topics with franchisors. This discussion will benefit both new and seasoned franchisors.
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Episode #27 - Franchising 101
07/25/2019
Episode #27 - Franchising 101
My Podner in this episode is Rob Vinson and he’s going to talk with us today about Franchising 101 – Where to start when you backed into franchising by accident, and don’t know where to go.
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Episode #26 – CRM on STEROIDS
06/14/2019
Episode #26 – CRM on STEROIDS
Stan Friedman talks with us today about Customer Relationship Management software, or CRMs and how they are the lifeblood of modern franchisors
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Episode #25 - Franchisee Recruitment
05/28/2019
Episode #25 - Franchisee Recruitment
Art Coley talks with us today about how to develop a franchisee recruitment system that will attract higher quality franchisees to your system.
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Episode #24 - Franchisee Compliance
05/08/2019
Episode #24 - Franchisee Compliance
Ms. Angela Angela Coté of Cultivate Advisors speaks with us about Franchisee Compliance, or as she likes to call it, franchisee success.
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Episode #23 - H-Tea-O Part 1
03/06/2019
Episode #23 - H-Tea-O Part 1
My Podner in this episode is Justin Howe and he’s the president of a brand-new franchise concept called H-Tea-O. Justin has agreed to let us do a series of episodes as we follow him through the process of franchising his business.
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Episode #22 - Franchise Marketing Fund
02/19/2019
Episode #22 - Franchise Marketing Fund
Drue Townsend shares with us A LOT of what she has learned from managing the MARKETING FUND at FASTSIGNS International.
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Episode #21 - Franchisee Onboarding and Training
12/01/2018
Episode #21 - Franchisee Onboarding and Training
Robert Bilotti talks about franchisee onboarding and training. We will dive deep into “training theory” and then wrap it all up with a step-by-step discussion on how a new franchisor needs to set up a training program for franchisees.
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Episode #20 - How to Work with a Franchise Broker Consultant
10/16/2018
Episode #20 - How to Work with a Franchise Broker Consultant
Ms. Lori Kiser is going to talk to us about how to best utilize a franchise broker consultant company.
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Episode #19 - Managing You Franchise Agreements with the End in Mind
09/12/2018
Episode #19 - Managing You Franchise Agreements with the End in Mind
Tom Spadea discusses the benefits of properly managing the FDD and the Franchise Agreement, from the beginning, making sure to keep the end in mind. The "end" he speaks of is a possible acquisition by an investment company.
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Episode #18 - Franchise Development 101 (Sales)
08/22/2018
Episode #18 - Franchise Development 101 (Sales)
Mike Pollock gives us tips on how to build a franchise development system for your franchise. But it was more than just that because we also talked about how to take a warm lead through the process to close the deal.
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Episode #17 - Insurance 101 for Franchisors
10/26/2017
Episode #17 - Insurance 101 for Franchisors
In this episode, Doug Groves talks about insurance, specifically, what types of business insurance are out there, the importance of finding a rep that knows your industry, and what role does insurance play in the relationship between franchisor and franchisee.
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Episode #16 - Is Three-Party Franchising Right for Your System
08/04/2017
Episode #16 - Is Three-Party Franchising Right for Your System
In this episode, Brian Schnell talks about Three Party Franchising – that’s using master franchisees and area developers to grow your franchise system. Many people misuse these two terms, or use them interchangeably – Brian’s going to clear it all up for us.
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Episode #15 - "Franchising Failure" - A Case Study
06/09/2017
Episode #15 - "Franchising Failure" - A Case Study
Nancy Friedman shares with us her experiences as a franchisor and what she believes were the reasons for its ultimate failure.
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Episode #14 - Building a solid, emerging franchise model
04/27/2017
Episode #14 - Building a solid, emerging franchise model
Pete Baldine talks to us about how to build a solid, emerging franchise model. It is a very broad topic, but the episode is filled with great “take-aways” and is a must-listen for any emerging franchisor.
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Episode #13 - The IFA as a Tool
03/28/2017
Episode #13 - The IFA as a Tool
Paul Rocchio of the International Franchise Association, discusses how the IFA is poised to be one of the most useful tools to all franchisors as they work to grow their franchise systems.
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Episode #12 Why your FDD Sucks
02/22/2017
Episode #12 Why your FDD Sucks
Mike Drumm of Drumm Law in Denver, Colorado tells us why your company’s FDD might suck. He points out issues in an FDD’s content and style that could make or break an FDD’s ability to help you sell your concept to prospective franchisees.
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Episode #11 - Franchisee Training
12/14/2016
Episode #11 - Franchisee Training
In this episode we talk about how any franchisor can design and create a franchisee training program that will maximize results to both the franchisees and the entire franchise system.
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Episode #10 - Psychographic Analysis for Franchisors
10/09/2016
Episode #10 - Psychographic Analysis for Franchisors
How profiling your franchisee candidates can help you determine compatibility and predict performance of franchisee candidates.
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Episode #9 - Franchising as a Partnership
08/11/2016
Episode #9 - Franchising as a Partnership
Franchising veteran, Jim Richardson (Pizza Hut and Panda Express), discusses the value of the partnership between franchisor and franchisee.
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Episode #8 – The Middle East Region - How to expand a franchise concept
06/23/2016
Episode #8 – The Middle East Region - How to expand a franchise concept
Franchise consultant, Yendy Khayat, speaks on the topic of how to expand a franchise system into the Middle East region.
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Episode #7 - Canada - How to Expand your Franchise Concept
06/06/2016
Episode #7 - Canada - How to Expand your Franchise Concept
Canadian attorney, Joseph Adler, speaks on the topic of how to expand a franchise system into Canada while avoiding the common pitfalls that hinder many franchisors.
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