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Aug 13 2017

Don’t Sell To Every Franchisee Who Can Pay – Consider A Franchisee Assessment

Over the past six to 12 months, I have worked with a number of franchise owners who plan to sell franchises. In all cases, they had sold franchises in the past and had seen mixed results. Sometimes it had worked out. Other times, not so much. This time, all of them wanted to make sure that they sold to someone who was likely to succeed. They all recognized the risks associated with selling to the wrong franchisee, but did they do a franchisee assessment?

For the franchisee, one thing is clear. There’s a real turn-key value of buying a franchise compared to starting a business from scratch. As a franchisee you’re buying into a tried-and-tested business model and the related systems that should help the business run smoothly. Despite all of this helpful infrastructure, a franchisee’s success is never a “given.” In the wrong hands, a viable business can easily become a failed business. Sadly, when a franchisee fails, it reflects poorly on the whole brand.

Use a Franchisee Assessment to Improve Success

Many experienced franchisers have learned that it’s riskier to sell a franchise than it is to hire an employee. Here are some reasons why:

    • It is harder to “manage” a problematic and independent franchisee, there is often less room for oversight
    • A franchisee will probably have much more visibility and influence than an employee. If/when things go poorly, it’s often more public.
    • If you think severance pay is expensive/inconvenient, try getting rid of a franchisee
    • Just like employees, some franchisees just don’t fit with the culture or don’t understand the full responsibilities of business ownership.

Risk Management For Franchisers

So what’s an aspiring franchiser to do? How can they increase their odds of selling a franchise to someone who is likely to succeed? One easy and effective option is to do a Basic Franchisee Assessment. Here’s how it works:

Basic Franchisee Assessment

  • Potential franchisee answers some questions online
  • I/O Advisory Services prepares a short report based on the online assessment. This report will identify potential red flags (and/or notable strengths) that should be considered prior to selling to the potential franchisee
  • Awareness of these red flags may suggest that these issues should be probed during meetings/interviews that take place before the sale of the franchise (see Enhanced Franchisee Assessment)

Sometimes, the Basic Franchisee Assessment Report raises concerns that warrant a closer look. In these situations, I recommend that these concerns are addressed during meetings or interviews with the aspiring franchisee. A wise way to prepare for these meetings or interviews is to do an Enhanced Franchisee Assessment. Specifically, this includes:

Enhanced Franchisee Assessment

  • Prepare interview questions to confirm or refute the red flags or issues of concern that were raised during the basic assessment
  • Propose coaching and/or training to support the franchisee so that they can succeed in their role as a business owner and leader
Franchisee Working Well

As your (franchise) business grows, I/O Advisory Services can provide you with occasional Human Resources (HR) support. This is much more cost-effective than having someone play this role on a full-time basis when the need is temporary and periodic. I will help you identify the appropriate profile of hard and soft skills that your future employees should posses. Then, I can create interview questions that will help you tell the difference between job applicants who can say the right things during an interview versus job applicants who can actually deliver once they’ve been

hired. I’ll also help you make sure that your reference checks yield worthwhile insights, rather than being a meaningless formality.

Note – In July 2016, I reconnected with Ms. Erin Hamilton, the founder of MOGL Small Business Services. MOGL connects Ottawa businesses with MBA-level business talent on an on-call basis. My conversation with Erin about the work I’ve been doing with owners of franchises inspired this blog post.

Contact me by email, phone, or via direct message on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn if you’d like to discuss any of these services in more detail.

Contact Helen

More than career coaching, it’s career psychology®.

I/O Advisory Services – Building Resilient Careers.

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Written by Dwania Peele · Categorized: Dr. Helen Ofosu · Tagged: assessments, buying a franchise, franchise, frianchise owners, risk management

Sep 25 2015

For Women on the Move

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JDC met Heather and Nicky from Women on the Move at the start of summer. Friends since 1981, they have shared successes, challenges and many adventures. As serial entrepreneurs they now join forces to bring an unparalleled depth of knowledge, understanding, experience and passion to help women start and grow prosperous businesses. Women on the Move is Heather’s third business startup and Nicky’s second. Prior to her first startup, Heather climbed the corporate ladder and was VP of Sales and Marketing for Lucent Technology before she was 35. Nicky fast tracked her entrepreneurial path within a franchise structure. She started with Arthur Murray Dance Studio as an instructor at 30, two years later becoming a sales manager and shortly after that a successful franchisee.  As we learned more about these wonderful women’s individual and collective successes, we just had to share their experiences and learnings with you. Here are 4 great pieces of  advice from Heather and Women;

  1. Best piece of advice for women struggling with sales: Invest in yourself and get some training. Sales is a skill and like any other skill it is acquired, and that takes time and training.  You need a process so you can look back and see where you made a wrong turn and where you made good turns.  Otherwise you are just shooting in the dark. Learn to drive sales and develop strong closing skills and excellent communication skills. Make sure you know how your product is relevant to your buyer and make sure you know how to present your product as critical.
  1. Women are by nature more collaborative than competitive. Community and teamwork are part of how we are wired. We thrive on community and confidence, which is a key factor in sales and entrepreneurship, that soars when women work together towards a common goal.  We love to contribute to one another’s success, it is our instinct to nurture and that sets us apart from men.
  1. More than I have from my success! Failing forward is important. When we fail we examine where we went wrong and where we can improve next time. One rarely looks at one’s success with the same intensity. I always say that Olympic medalists have failed more than anyone else on the planet.  They kept getting up when everyone stayed down.  If you keep on keeping on regardless of failure, at some point you will be the last one standing.  That is one of the key secrets to success….keep on keeping on.
  1. Never, never, never give up. It always takes more money and more time than you think it will. And always marry your passion with your skills. That is a winning combination.  Never stop learning.

 For more information on Women on the Move.

www.womenonthemove.club

Written by Marisol and Silvia Fornoni, Founders of JDC.

JDC supports socially conscious organizations with finding sustainable ways to tell their stories using visual design, engaging content and non-traditional media. We help you with anything from organizing fundraising campaigns to web design and social media management.

http://www.joint-development.com

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Written by Dwania Peele · Categorized: Marisol and Silvia Fornoni · Tagged: adventures, Arthur Murray Dance Studio, businesses, Canadian Small Business Women, challenges, collaborative, community, competitive, corporate ladder, franchise, Heather, invest, Lucent Technology, Nicky, Sales and Marketing, serial entrepreneurs, success, teamwork, training, women on the move

Aug 23 2014

Networking Etiquette

Martina New

 

How does it make you feel, when someone you just met launches into a full-on sales pitch? Probably not so dandy. It may make you feel the same way as those sales calls you get after 8pm all right during dinner, and you just want to tell them to go away.

When this happens at a networking event, it’s awkward. Someone just introduced herself to you, or you said hello and asked what she does, and suddenly you’re finding yourself trying to back out of the conversation.  If you’ve attended more than a couple of networking meetings, you know exactly what I’m talking about! 

I admit that at my very first networking event as a fresh business owner, I hadn’t yet figured out the best way of going about things. Somewhere I had heard or read that it was a good opportunity to get and give as many business cards as possible, and many business owners support that view. Because you never know whom you`ll meet, or whom they know.

Being competitive as I am, yet also feeling a little nervous in a downtown pub stuffed to the hilt with small business owners, I “worked the room” as much as I was comfortable. In between greetings, I excitedly felt the growing number of cards in my pocket and felt somewhat proud over how many I had at the end of the night.

Yet therein lies a problem. As Christel Wintels, franchise owner of the BNI Golden Horseshoe groups, shared at a recent big networking bash, some informal ‘research’ had shown that of all the people who attend any given networking event, only around 5 per cent are there to buy something, yet a good 90 per cent or more are there to sell! So Christel’s commandment is: Thou shalt not sell!

Just like any other set of manners, networking etiquette has its pitfalls. Understandably, we’re excited about our business or idea and want to tell as many people as possible. And isn’t it all about exchanging business cards with lots of new people? 

It is in a way, but of course certain guidelines should apply so that you are remembered in a positive way. For example:

  • Prepare your introduction. Have a well-rehearsed pitch or ‘infomercial’ of 60 seconds or less. It should tell the listener about your key services and main benefits to them. Make it engaging, use some intrigue.
  • Listen! Cany people “don’t listen with the intent to understand, merely with the intent to respond.” Make the conversation about the other person, and hope they’ll do the same.
  • Ask new people for introductions to other specific businesses, and also ask them whom they would like to meet. You will be a superstar if you can introduce them to somebody else you met at that event!
  • Wait for a break in conversation or an obvious end before jumping into a still ongoing dialogue between two or more persons.
  • Avoid introducing yourself to someone just as they’re putting food in their mouth. I always find this one particularly challenging to handle when on the receiving end! I struggle for a suitable and polite response when asked “So what do you do?” while I’m currently balancing hors d’oeuvres on a napkin, and trying to keep crumbly filo pastry off my face and clothes. Needless to say I also don’t want to talk with my mouth full. Maybe say hello to someone else first and come back later.
  • Be humble and accept the fact that not everyone will be interested in your business. Start a dialogue and then wait to hear if that person would like your business card or not. If they don’t prompt you, maybe they’re really not interested or in need of your service.

In any case, enjoy the event! Every networking event is a good opportunity to improve on and perfect your sales conversation, get a feel for which aspects of your conversation and benefits spark the greatest interest, and you never know whom you might meet and whom they know!

Just remember to leave the kind of impression you actually want to be remembered for.

 

Martina Rowley is the founder and operator of Beach Business Hub – THE co-working space east of the Don Valley. She combined her passion and experience in the environmental sector with her community engagement side to create a local work environment where space and resources are shared. She fosters and facilitates collaboration, networking, and learning for and with small business owners and new start-ups. Contact her at:http://www.beachbusinesshub.ca, on Facebook and on Twitter

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Written by Dwania Peele · Categorized: Martina Rowley · Tagged: Beach Business Hub, BNI Golden Horseshoe, business owner, business owners, business women, Canadian Small Business Women, Christel Wintels, competitive, conversation, Ettiquette, franchise, infomercial, introduction, listen, Martina Rowley, networking, networking event, sales pitch, small business, telemarketer

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