Many franchisors focus their franchisee support and training on operations and marketing. We’re not debating these elements are essential. Without them you have no brand.
If growth has been identified as a priority however, increasing knowledge and resources against development is also going to be crucial.
The development resources within franchisee organizations can vary significantly based on their size and development commitments. When development resources are limited, their specialized knowledge and fractured priorities outside of development can severely impact the long-term growth of any brand.
It’s not uncommon for franchisees to have their CEO responsible for capital investment decisions; they often lead negotiations, not only with the franchisor, but also with brokers, landlords and general contractors. This can be a challenge if they don’t truly have the time to focus and ‘drive’ unit growth.
A franchisee may also use local operations leads to identify and qualify potential sites and manage the construction process. Although they are certainly closest to consumers, have strong opinions of their markets and have the greatest visibility to the progress of any construction while out in the field, they may not be fully educated in trade area analytics, critical site requirements or the construction process. Ultimately though, in order to ensure the current units continue to be strong, operators really need to prioritize operations rather than get sidetracked by development.
As a franchisor focused on growth you could insist on a dedicated, experienced development team within the franchisee’s organizational structure. This can be a hard sell to franchisee organizations though due to the financial G&A weight involved.
Alternatively, the need for development resources and expertise could be met by one or two mid-level franchisee resources focused on development, combined with support from the franchisor and third-party organizations.
Franchisors with the greatest chance of success provide consistently implemented development standards and processes to their franchisees along with an education on the keys to success for development. Franchisees can also often benefit from access to third-party organizations, recruited and educated by the franchisor, to support their efforts (development consultants, real estate brokers & developers, financial lenders and construction management organizations).
Lastly, it’s essential to have a strong franchisor development team to provide ongoing support. Expanding on the franchisor development team, it’s important to recognize this will be the department within any brand organization critical to realizing dreams of growth. The skill set of the development team needs to be far broader than real estate expertise and an ability to communicate with franchisees. The development team should consist of client managers able to analyze data, share insights, provide expertise on all things development, talk to the franchisees in their own language and understand the financial implications of their recommendations. To support the breadth of franchisees (and the breadth of their development experience), the strength of the brand’s development team is going to be vital.
As a franchisee, understanding the development requirements expected of you each year and the amount of support provided by the franchisor will lead to determining your specific development resource needs.
Whether you’re a franchisor or franchisee, if you feel you’re lacking in expertise or development focused resources but don’t have the need or capacity to hire the necessary team members full-time, BDG can help by providing support to fill the gap on a part-time or project basis.
If you’d like to raise the overall development knowledge and focus within your organization, BDG can spend a day or two with your team on an online seminar customized to meet your needs.
Please explore our website further www.beyonddevgroup.com to see the services we provide.
We look forward to hearing from you at info@beyonddevgroup.com to explore how we can work together to help you make your dreams of growth come true.
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