Franchisees should feel like they are being served by the franchisor. Shear Madness Haircuts for Kids understands that the road to becoming a successful business involves many unique challenges. Our franchisees have taught us that being a great franchisor is important to the success of the individual franchisees. Here are a few things that we have discovered that our franchisees really appreciate.
1. Great Customer Service: Quickly deliver your quality product with a smile! Time is a valuable resource to your customer. Delight them with efficient services and promptly returned emails and phone calls. And don’t forget to smile, say “Thank You”, and let your customers and employees know how much you appreciate the work they do! As a franchisor we realize that a franchisees time is just as important! And just as our salon customers' deserve prompt answers our franchisees deserve prompt answers from us - the franchisor!
2. Optimism: It’s important for business owners to always be optimistic about the future. Attitude will quickly infect your employees and ultimately impact what the customer receives from your business. If a customer believes they aren’t getting a great product or experience from your business, they may look elsewhere. It takes a while to really build a succesful business of any kind - we understand this! There are always going to be ups and downs in any business. We are constantly on the look out for successful marketing techniques to pass along to our business owners. Optimism and success by others is contagious! We share store results with all owners so they are able to encourage one another. Every store has the ability to be a success! We know this and help provide that optimism in both intangible and tangible ways!
3. Think Different: Think "Outside the Box". This may require a business owner to get out of their comfort zone, but your customers will be drawn to products and advertising that looks different from what everyone else may be doing. Franchisees buy a franchise because they want to know "how to do it" and they expect that the Franchise IS doing it differently than everyone else! A succesful franchisee will always ask the franchisor when they are thinking of doing something outside the box! The franchisor most times has experience with that idea and can guide a franchisee to either do it better - or maybe help them avoid a costly mistake! Franchisors that reward those franchisees who have thought of something "outside the box" and have a system in place to share this information is much appreciated by all franchisees within the system!
4. Team Building: Good franchisors don’t just hire another employee to do a job – they find people who are excited to be part of your team. These employees will help build your business through delivering great products and services, and caring about your customers as well as you as a franchisee! Franchises typically do not have many employees in their home offices - so those that they hire need to be carefully chosen.
5. Focus: A good Franchisor will not allow you to fall victim to being a jack-of-all trades, and a master of none. The risk here is that by spreading yourself to thin, you’ll limit how effective and productive you can be - which may result in poor products or services. Zero in on achieving perfection! A good franchisor will help you with this - if you are thinking too far "outside the box" the franchisor should alert you to this! Every idea may have merit, but doing them all well is usually not possible.
6. Do What You Love: A Franchisor chose you as a franchisee because they see something in you that brings strength to the business. Building a business around what you enjoy and a good at gives you a greater chance for success. The franchisor may pull you back in and remind you of why you were chosen for the task! They will also help you get better at those skills that may need improving. AND they may improve the entire system based on what knowledge your strengths have brought to the system!
7. Don’t be a loner: Successful Franchisees and Franchisors realize the value in sharing! You are NOT in it alone as a franchisee. Franchisees appreciate built in systems, meetings, conference calls or other systems that the franchisor has put into place to allow them to communicate and learn from other franchisees, employees, and the franchisor. There isn’t anyone out there who can knows everything. Being able to seek out those individuals who enjoy being expert advisors and mentors within the system is valuable. As each store becomes more successful it helps everyone within the system.
One thing to remember is that when an individual buys into a franchising opportunity with Shear Madness Haircuts for Kids, they won’t be going at it alone. Our team excels at being a partner who wants our franchise owners to succeed! If you’d like to learn more tips on how to achieve success from our team of business experts, click the below banner...
You might also enjoy reading:
- Huffington Post: Business Tips from 7 Highly Successful Entrepreneurs
- Entrepreneur: 10 Tips for the First-Time Business Owner
- NBC News: 12 tips for business success
- About Money: Rules for Small Business Success
