Insider Trading - Sign A Rama
by
SIGNARAMA
Irvine believes he is able to bring a day to day commercialism to the mentoring process which consultants, who have rarely run a Signarama . “We have slowly introduced mentors into our Australian system, being careful to not always choose just the most successful owners but rather those who are successful and who have become knowledgeable about the industry and who are good communicators.” There are 13 mentor stores in Australia.
“Our official rollout of the mentor program began in 1997, after many of our owners had expressed their satisfaction and gratitude for the information they had gathered from their peers at our franchisee convention where we had successfully promoted ‘rubbing elbows with the elders’ at roundtable discussions, after hours of activities and the like.”
At that time two dozen of the most successful franchisees were asked if they would be willing to voluntarily work with existing and new franchisees as a way to solidify the system and reduce the learning curve for new franchisees. The response was unanimous.
Of course gaining hard-earned experience from a traveller who has already passed along the route cuts down some of the risks but it doesn’t mean mistakes won’t be made along the way. And sometimes advice has to be repeated: recommendations are initially ignored because the person thinks a particular event or process won’t happen but down the track when, inevitably, the problem has occurred, the counsel given again is heard properly, reveals Irvine.
“In some cases other issues come up, refinancing or how to get a loan, and I can give directions.” With his advertising and marketing background Irvine can also share schemes to get the most out of a limited budget and encourage effective marketing.
“People think because they don’t have the budget of McDonalds they can’t do anything.” For instance, investigating how to build a link with charities and community projects is something that often develops in mentoring discussions and Irvine’s advice is to match the business to a charity that will work in partnership, that will provide benefit to the franchise business, and not one buried in sponsorship. Looking ahead is important for any business and mentors can assist in refining partnership plans.
“I ask, where do you want to be in five or 10 years time?”
Mentoring allows Irvine to share both the mistakes and good things that have happened at Gloria Jean’s. “For me to see people succeed is a great thing, rather than see mistakes and failures.”
“One of the biggest benefits from our perspective,” says Pretorius, “is that storeowners can get advice, business answers and direction not just from our corporate staff, but also from their peers who have gained broad experience while building their successful businesses. We’re not as concerned with where they go for the answer, rather that they get the answer they are looking for. We know that the answers a new owner gets from a mentor would be the same answer they would get from corporate staff, and that’s what being a part of our system is all about.
Signarama mentors also help new storeowners who are fresh out of training with on the job training in the mentor’s store, prior to the opening of their new locations. Trainees typically spend up to five days under a mentor’s wing before opening their new location.
Many business start-ups receive a lot of advice from other people, including friends and family who may never have run a business. A mentor’s value is in having had that experience. At Signarama business services franchise, mentors are accessible through the online franchisee bulletin board which contains a profile of each mentor, including valuable information such as their area of expertise, their backgrounds before joining the network, their location size, staffing levels, sales volume awards and achievement awards.
“A mentor newsletter called the Mentor’s Message is distributed to all of the stores, highlighting a selected mentor, and containing a question corner where owners can read several mentors’ responses to queries that have been submitted to us,” explains Pretorius. Mentoring can give you a hand up so why not take advantage of someone else’s experience? After all, isn’t that what franchising is all about?
09.05.2008
FCA Member
SIGNARAMA News
SIGNARAMA launches Photo Share Competition for smart phone ‘happy snappers’
30/08/2011 - Signarama, signage franchises, expands their brand by launching ...
SIGNARAMA exceeds expectations for Australian retail franchises in 2011
29/07/2011 - United Franchise Group brands SIGNARAMA and EmbroidMe, two Australian ...
The signage franchises, SIGNARAMA discuss making the move to a franchised business
29/03/2011 - Switching from an independent business to a franchise is an ...
Exclusive deal signed by SIGNARAMA to supply signage franchises with HP technology
18/02/2011 - SIGNARAMA has signed a worldwide exclusive partnership deal ...
Sign A Rama retail signage franchise outfits Westfield Sydney to tight deadlines
29/11/2010 - Proving that tight deadlines are no problem for the signage ...
Independent Queensland operator added to network of Sign A Rama signage franchises
26/11/2010 - Sign A Rama has added the first independent operator to its ...
Contact SIGNARAMA
28/56 Buffalo Road
Gladesville
NSW 2111
Tel: 1300 286 905
Fax: 02 9807 2033
