As a franchisee, your goal is to find success. Brand growth is at the top of your mind, and with it comes perks like a padded bank account, respect from your workers and peers, and more. It might not be your goal to be the biggest and best business owner around (then again, it might be), but success shows you’re moving in the right direction. More often than not, this is what franchise owners strive for with their business locations.
Starting out hot can mean more growth straight from the get go. From opening with a brand that wows, to managing it to future success, following your ideal course can create the job that you’ve always wanted.
In order to find your own version of success, take a look at these proven steps. Each offers ways that you can jumpstart your franchise location and take it up and onto the next level of business growth, even from your starting day.
1. Go All in On Your Franchise
Don’t consider this your side gig or something you work on when you have time. Though that might be the case, you have to provide full energy and full marketing abilities or you’ll never get up off the ground. This is the fate for far too many franchising businesses, and it’s an unfortunate fact that keeps them from getting the traction they deserve. Pour your time and energy into your franchise business – even if that time is spotty and limited. Doing so will help your franchise thrive and get you where you want to be. Don’t overlook how much your enthusiasm and effort to the cause can help your location thrive, even as you’re just starting out.
2. Market Before Your Franchise Opens
As you’re set to open up a new franchise location, chances are there’s buzz surrounding the place. People want to know what the new business in town is all about – they want to know what you have to offer, when you’ll be open, and more. Give them what they want and provide yourself some promotion in the process. Start spreading the word about your franchise location now and you can draw in curious customers who will bring their wallets, ready to fund your new profession. Create the buzz that people are already asking for and your brand can profit in the process.
3. Use Your Past Business Skills
You have plenty of business skills from your past jobs that you can help you in your new venture. Use them to your advantage. Look back to your past abilities and see how each training can help you today. Whether you have experience as a manager, training team members, or handling cash – each of these tasks will be easy to pick back up where you left them. (While more sophisticated skills will only further your cause.) Get back into the swing of things and you’ll have a leg up on key franchise abilities, which will only further the growth of your location. Consider each of your past jobs and what you learned in them in order to provide more high-quality skills to your business.
4. Hire the Best Employees
Sure this is always the goal, but we mean it. Take the time and energy to focus on high quality candidates to staff your franchise location. The better skills they come with, the better off your location will become. It means workers that you can trust, those who are able to do more (before they are ever trained), and employees who are dedicated to your cause. Because finding good workers isn’t just about who can do what, it’s about grade-A attitudes and personality skills that are also desirable for your brand. Spend the time and effort – it might be long and tedious – to find these folks to work for your franchise. Don’t be afraid to compensate them and offer benefits for staying on board, either. After all, the better workers you have on board, the more they can help your franchise strive to new goals and bigger heights.
5. Have Your Ducks in a Row
All of them – do your research and mark everything off before you ever schedule to open your doors. It will be work and it will take time, but this is not the event to push things until later. Get these items off of your plate and mark them as done. Ensuring tasks are complete means you can focus on the franchise business itself and your first days as an open-for-business operation. In addition, having everything completed means you can prevent as much as possible from going wrong once customers are coming in the door. Create a detailed list and complete it before opening day in order to move forward successfully.
6. Ask for Advice From Peers
Those around you will have good advice on how you can better run your business. Ask your friends and family members for their ideas, as well as any contacts you might have with business experience. There’s no reason to listen to every piece of advice that they’ve given, but it won’t hurt to hear them out. Besides, you might get some good ideas along the way. Lean an ear in and see what others have to gain access to ideas from the outside, and for some constructive criticism from those you trust.
7. Stay in Close Communication With Your Franchising Brand
These are the people you lean on in the beginning, but once you’re up and running, some franchisees become engrained in the process and run. To a point this is a good thing – who doesn’t love a little initiative? But you should also keep in close contact with your franchising brand, especially with each new step. Get them on board and listen to their advice so you can make the best moves possible for your franchise brand. That doesn’t mean you can’t take the reins, only that you’re getting viable feedback to ensure you’re not making any fatal mistakes. Your franchising brand is there for a reason, be sure to utilize them as a resource.
8. Remain Humble as a Franchisee
You have a new business location, you’re on top of the world! This is a great accomplishment in your life, but it’s not one you should let consume you. Stay humble and remember that anything and everything could go wrong – and when it does you have to stop what you’re doing and fix the problem. You have a good thing going, but it’s not foolproof. Remember that Murphy’s Law is still very much in existence, and when it strikes, you have to put your ego aside and get on the ground floor in order to fix the issue at hand. Stay humble and create success, by not getting too big to fix whatever may go wrong.
With proper planning and communication, you can help reach your best business launch yet. Whether it’s your first franchise or your 10th, look to these proven steps for brand recognition and success.