The Franchisor Mindset Shift That Transforms Your Network
Our first franchisee had everything in place.
The operations manual was done, training was complete and customers were coming in. But six months on, the numbers were behind, and we were spending more time running her business than our own.
The problem wasn’t ability. She was excellent and went on to build a very successful multi-territory business. What was missing was something no manual covers: the shift from employee to business owner. In this video, Julie Clabby shares the moment we realised it and how we changed our training as a result.
Watch time: 2m 02s
What we changed
This is the story from the franchisor’s side: what we learned about our own training once our first franchisee’s numbers fell behind.
The warning sign. Everything was in place on paper and the business was running, but results were behind the business plan and we were spending more time on the franchisee’s business than our own.
The cause. Our training covered what to do, but not why. Our franchisee was capable and following every process, but she hadn’t yet made the move from employee to business owner, so the work on the business, the marketing and new business development, wasn’t happening.
The fix. We changed our training and our franchisee portal to explain the reasoning behind each process, and we changed how we spoke to franchise owners. Once that clicked, she went on to build a very successful business.
The takeaway. As a franchisor, your job is to develop business owners, not just train operators. Build the why into your onboarding from the start and you will save yourself a great deal of time later.
