How to continuously improve your franchise
by
Norton Rose
Franchisors will need to continually strive for best practice, as not only do they have competitors in their particular market segment, they have competitors for quality franchisees. Deacons have identified 10 features of best practice in franchising, which they describe as the 10 features of superior franchise systems. These features can provide a road map for continuous improvement.
The features are:
1. Ambitious and detailed plans with input from all stakeholders that recognise the true potential of the business and put in place clear strategies to realise the potential;
2. A focus on the value of the brand, as this is critical to consumer decision making and long-term competitive advantage;
3. Strong performance in all basic areas - recruitment, management, site selection, product and services;
4. Continual innovation at the customer end of the business to ensure ongoing relevance of the underlying business to the customer;
5. Strong risk and compliance management to ensure that the brand is protected and the assets of the network, which will largely comprise intellectual property, are not placed at risk;
6. Critical mass and substantial market presence in their niche market;
7. Substantial revenue and efficiencies from effective supply chain management, so that franchisees enjoy best pricing in purchasing and rebates and other revenue can flow to the franchisor;
8. Effective multi-faceted communications processes so that the network works as a team to best serve the customer in a consistent manner, misunderstandings are minimised and disputes managed;
9. Strong marketing, and a mass media advertising presence, so that the brand is continually promoted and business is generated for franchisees; and
10. Respect for the input of others into the franchise system, particularly franchisees and external advisors.
See the running and franchise and buying a franchise pages for additional information.
This article was created by Deacons and appears courtesy of Austrade . 10.07.2007
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