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The Personality Factor
The Personality Factor
By Nick James on June 30, 2010
Being able to select the right people to be franchisees of a franchise is absolutely essential for the success of that franchise as a whole. The ability to pick and choose people who have the attitude and energy to make the business work is one of the biggest strengths of the franchising concept.
Having the cash to buy the franchise is about the last issue that should be considered. Franchisors must be assured prospective franchisees have the attributes necessary to make a success of the venture - they can't afford to have a franchisee fail. Franchisees should expect the franchisor to want to meet with them and their partner, and to make enquiries about their business experience, financial position and other issues.
Here are just some of the factors which contribute to someone who has the potential to be a successful franchisee.
Experience
It's not necessary for a franchisee to know a lot about the industry the franchise is in. The Operations Manual and systems should be largely self-contained and training will be a part of the package.. In some cases, franchisors actually prefer fresh, non industry people, who come to the work without preconceptions, so they can be trained exactly to the Franchisor's standards.
What is important in a franchisee is a certain amount of life experience. Managerial skills or time spent in a business environment are also a distinct asset. Most important of all is that the franchisee is motivated and organised, and has the willingness and drive to make a success of a franchise.
Other Skills
- People Skills. Franchisees must be able to manage, motivate and delegate to their staff. They need to be able to handle suppliers, and they need to put on a good face consistently with their customers. In other words they need to be someone who gets on reasonably well with other people and who can work as the head of the team. Some very highly-skilled people fail on this count because they are more used to working alone, and dealing with inanimate objects than with people.
- A willingness to work. Being a boss doesn't mean the franchisee won't have to work, and work hard. Franchisees that do best are those who, in the early stages at least, are prepared to start at the bottom and learn about all the tasks involved in the operation by doing them. Later on, they may be able to delegate to staff, but the better they know the detail of how the business operates by working the front line, the more everyone will profit from that knowledge.
- Good health. Once the business is up and running, it may be possible to work a normal week, but franchisees must be prepared to work quite long hours to start with. They need to be in sufficiently good health to handle this initial pressure.
- Financial resources. If the business takes longer than anticipated to get off the ground - or something unexpected happens - franchisees need to have some uncommitted savings or assets to call on.
- A supportive partner/family. Starting a franchise business makes a lot of demands on time and emotional energy. A franchisee's partner and family need to understand this, and to be able to cope and provide support until the business is running smoothly.
Not having total freedom to do things their on way and being so reliant on the franchisor comes as a surprise - and a disappointment - to many franchisees. They need to remember that the franchisor is the one who has put all the hard development and trialing work in: they are buying a buying a business that is ready to go.
They should also remember that they do own the business and their rewards are related directly to input. Revenue and profits can vary between franchises in the same network, demonstrating that there is scope for individual franchisees to develop and practice managerial skills.