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How to grow your business: quick tips from the top

Sarah Stowe

Ian Martin is CEO of Noodle Box. He has headed up the Australian business at Baskin-Robbins and Gloria Jean’s Coffees and introduced fast food giants Pizza Hut and Burger King into new markets. Here he shares his experience on four of the key elements of building a successful franchise.

FRANCHISEE RECRUITMENT

“The most important consideration, whether that’s for a single unit or a new country, is finding the right franchisee. What will drive longterm success is getting the right partner. You need a rigorous recruitment process.

“Look for partnership and shared vision. It is key that both partners are aligned; there has to be clarity about where the brand is going and individual goals. It has to go deeper than a potential franchisee’s affection for the brand. It’s about the roles of both parties. If everyone thinks they are undertaking the same role, there will be conflict.

“Most conflict is either when a franchisee has an entrepreneur mindset, when the need for creativity in marketing has to be tempered by following the brand; the other is bureaucratic; franchisees want to be led to water and force fed, they want to open the door and for the business to work by itself.”

Ian Martin heads up the Noodle Box franchise chain

MEASURES OF SUCCESS

At Noodle Box there are four clear measures considered daily and weekly:

1. Same restaurant sales growth
2. Transactional growth
3. Customer satisfaction – gauged through mystery shoppers
4. Profitable franchisees and restaurant economics

“Benchmarking is the first important step for a franchisor. If you haven’t got the trust and engagement of the franchisees it is hard to get data and benchmarks. Over the last three months 80 percent of franchisees revealed numbers we cannot access ourselves: actual labour hours and dollar cost per sale.

“We are committed to benchmark within certain detailed analytics that are relevant, and within two weeks of getting the information.

“Our operations team is refocused away from policing and compliance; we’re much further down the line working on franchisee businesses: on KPIs and how to achieve growth.”

EXPANDING THE BUSINESS

“One of my tenets is a focus on profitable development. The catch cry of expansion is fine but you need to preface it with profitability as a brand owner. There will be different infrastructure costs; growth is not linear it is stepped. You need cashflow and infrastructure to fund growth.

“In my experience getting accreditation is firstly about an individual track record, secondly a well-articulated business plan. Only when you have the two things do you get accredited. It is about comfort with the tenure, a safe pair of hands.

“The first five years of a business is all about the spirit of the entrepreneur but it’s important to have someone experienced on your team when you want to accelerate. The right person could change over time as the business develops – as it moves through the journey, particularly in franchising, there’s a different set of core competencies required with a faster market penetration strategy.

“The relevance of having an experienced business head on board is in stopping you doing the bad things. Lots of people can do the right thing but make mistakes. That’s why a brand needs someone who has overspec’d to act as a coach and deliver the results.”

BECOMING AN INTERNATIONAL BRAND

“The enticement of a big cheque can be very alluring. Maybe the biggest decision we make is doing the due diligence on masters, finding out whether the business interests and goals are aligned. Take time upfront to do this.

“It is essential you have a plan and have identified markets you want to pursue. But I don’t believe the plan is set in concrete. Don’t march blindly ahead; you need to take heed of opportunities when they arise.”