There are many successful franchises that exist across multiple industries today. Some are in the B2B space, others are retail franchises focused on consumers, and others are in the service industry. But what all of these franchises have in common is certain characteristics or qualities that allow them or enable them to be successful. In speaking with a number of successful franchisees, we’ve discovered 6 common qualities that are consistent across all franchises.
1) They Have a Vision and a Plan.
It is not an “either-or”. It is critical to have a long-term vision of where you want to be, but you also must have a plan that provides the steps in being able to achieve that vision. In some cases, we’ve seen franchises that have a really compelling vision, but with no understanding of how they will get there or a very robust set of short-term initiatives without a comprehensive strategy around what those actions are going to lead to. Having a compelling vision AND a robust plan is absolutely critical.
2) They Understand How They will Acquire Clients.
Client acquisition is the life blood of business, whether it is walk-in traffic at a retail store, or consumers willing to take on home services, or B2B clients taking on professional services. In any of these types of franchise businesses, understanding where the clients will come from and being able to tap into the appropriate strategies to acquire those clients is an essential part for success. It may be digital marketing or building your referral sources or advertising; or perhaps all of these methods. Successful franchise owners quickly identify which ones will work most effectively for them.
3) They Follow the Playbook AND make Suggestions to Improve it.
In a franchise system, it’s expected that franchisees have an entrepreneurial mindset, but that shouldn’t come at the expense of following the expectations of the franchisor. Having said that, a good franchisor will always be open to new ideas and suggestions. Being the person that provides those suggestions is always welcome, especially from the franchisees that are also willing to follow the playbook.
4) Successful Franchises are Owned by Sponges.
They continuously learn from the day they establish their franchise, through the point that they’re even mature franchisees and beyond. They are looking to learn everything they can about their customers, about the services they provide, about the opportunities to grow their business. They also like to learn and get to know successful franchisees as well and understand what’s worked for them. So, the more you learn and the more you’re a sponge, the higher potential for long-term growth.
5) It’s about Customer Success, not just Customer Experience.
Over the last 15-20 years, the field of customer experience has been growing throughout the world of corporate and also franchise organizations. And while customer experience and delivering an excellent customer experience is critical, it is actually more important, to enable our customers to be successful. And so, the successful franchisee, thinks in terms of “How do I get a win-win for the customer?” Focus on not only delivering them a great experience but helping them become more successful at what they’re trying to accomplish.
6) They Find Ways to Scale and Ultimately Own a Business, not a Job.
It is easy to become trapped in the day-to-day grind of doing everything yourself as a business owner, especially a new business owner. The successful franchisee quickly puts the systems in place, whether that’s hiring people or using automation or finding ways to enable their time to be spent in much more high value activities. Don’t spend time in manual, repeatable tasks that could be handed off to others or even automated. This provides the ability to grow a business and over time scale that business, as opposed to simply buying a job.
The common theme here is that all qualities are related to structure, careful planning and the ability to learn. The high-earning franchise owner will always be the one who has clear strategic goals with a pathway mapped out. This enables their vision to become a reality and ultimately scale successfully.
