Franchise consultants, Sherpa Group warn franchise owners about the 'seasonal glass ceiling'

Vicki Prout from franchise consultants, Sherpa Group warn franchise owners against the perils of accepting the ‘glass ceiling of seasonal highs and lows’ by remaining traditional to their seasonal planning strategies and timetables.

Vicki says too many businesses are traditional or remain loyal to their planning timetables by having set times throughout the year to,

• conduct research and development,
• conduct staff reviews,
• analyse their profit and loss in the same way, and
• conduct meetings the same way with the same routine and possibly the same agenda each time throughout the year.

Business owners should work towards making their businesses remarkable and unique rather than remaining comfortable.

Repetition is an element in everyone’s seasons with people spending time with the same circles of advisors and attending the same networking events. Christmas sales are one example of seasonal repetitions that occur in business, however nothing about these sales are remarkable.

Most people’s season is always the same and businesses remain seasonal traditionalists even though they may believe they are operating ‘outside the square’.

While traditions and consistency are important, it is equally important for the base of these concepts to be thought about differently each season. Business owners should consider how they can create, change, and shape their own season each time.

“Operating in the franchise sector for over 15 years, I can definitely say most businesses no matter what industry, are impacted by seasonal occurrences. This is more than four times a year,” Vicki said.

Vicki advises of three goals that franchisors should consider in order to weather the daily seasons by offering a smarter approach.

1. Be Unique: Business systems that have something different, exciting, unique are better than the competition and franchisees will want to buy that.
2. Be Energetic: Franchisors who bring energy and passion to their role as a franchisor and lead by example find teams and franchisees worker better and harder.
3. Be Prepared: Research franchising magazines for articles that advise on “How to find the right franchisee?” Business owners should compare their business to determine if they operate better and if not, make the change.