Make your free time productive and allow your franchise to thrive. While it’s important to take time off and have breaks, utilizing designated down time toward business growth can help your franchise succeed … and succeed faster. This is a great method for several reasons. One being that in designated work time (but not necessarily at work), you’re uninterrupted and can get more done, faster. Secondly, is that setting aside real time to put into your business ensures that things get done, and that your franchise is given the opportunity to thrive.
Alternatively, business owners might host a growing list of tasks that never gets done. When you don’t carve out specific time or assume you’ll tackle things “When you have time,” it gets pushed down on the priority list.
In order to help your brand thrive through a schedule of small tasks at a time, look to these specific steps.
1. Marketing in the Background
Whether you choose to hire a marketing company or have a go at it on your own, marketing is something that can be done with a few minutes carved out of your week. Write and schedule social media posts. Take pictures of your process or current franchise and sprinkle them to be posted.
Reach out to local news sources and see if they’ll cover your progress. Email other contacts and tell them what you’re up to – you never know who they’ll pass that information along to and how far it can reach.
Or, if you choose to work with a company, spend this time reviewing their work or responding to their messages to ensure you’re staying on your franchise’s intended path.
2. Paperwork, Filed
We get it, it’s the boring stuff. The logistical tasks that need to be done here and there, and inevitably, they fall between the cracks. Don’t let this happen to your franchise. As papers need to be filed – licenses, employee work, etc., you would hate for deadlines to be missed. Especially due to no good excuse other than, “I hadn’t gotten around to it yet.” Make tasks like these a priority and complete them as you sit down to work on your franchise business.
3. Continuing Ed
Do you learn in your downtime? That can mean something traditional like reading or signing up for a course, sure. But it can also means something more fluid, like listening to podcasts, reading blogs, or simply having transparent conversations with other franchisees.
Whether you have a specific area on which you’d like to advance your skills, or if you’re just immersing yourself in the industry (or franchising in general), this can be a great way to learn and increase your knowledge as a business owner.
4. Brushing Up Your Business Model
What’s working and what could use some improvement? Dedicate some time each month (or at the interval of your choice) Review your protocol and consider what could be done to make it better. Through this, be sure to follow franchise company guidelines. You should also do thorough research before making any changes. However, small and pointed adjustments to your model can help streamline process and draw in more dollars with fewer efforts. (That’s the goal, after all, right?)
Know that some changes might not have the intended results, but through educated trial and error, and over time, you can work to create the best results possible.
5. Employee Training
Your workers are a reflection of your brand. What customers experience through your staff will leave a lasting impression, and you want it to be a good one. Consider creating regular training intervals for your staff during which they can grow their skills and capacity for the industry. This can be a classroom-based setup, something hands-on, or a combination of the above.
As a franchisee, you might also offer continuing education programs where employees can choose an area for which they’d further like to learn. This gives an added perk of personal interest. While it does come with a financial aspect, consider the investment you are putting into your workers and producing longevity within their tenure.
Measure progress with interval check ins and watch the growth process take place within each worker.
Franchise owners can make their brands better, just by setting aside a few hours each week to put back into the brand. Consider this pointed effort to take on key tasks, and to give your brand the extra attention it deserves.