A strong and effective business relationship between franchisee and franchisor is vital to the success of both businesses and the franchise system overall. But good business relationships are also important in any other dealings you have with other businesses. Building and maintaining good business relationships can keep costs down and increase reputation and profitability.
All these characteristics can be observed in successful franchise businesses.
- Communication
- Couples celebrating their golden wedding anniversary (i.e. 50 years together) often state the secret to a long marriage is communication. Most franchise systems have been in existence for less than 50 years. Like marriage, the success of a franchise relationship is often attributed to communication between the parties. The quality, quantity, timeliness, honesty and relevance of the communication in any relationship will determine how effective communication is as a long-term determinant of franchise success.
- Seatbelt Enthusiasts.
- Many people think that to make it in the franchisee world you need to be a gambler. This is absolutely misleading. If you want to gamble, then please GO TO VEGAS!
- You absolutely need a safety net. Successful franchises take massive precautions in running their everyday business. They look to mitigate risks that come with any activity and constantly look for track records or the history of what they are participating in. they are not “blazing trails while running with scissors”, they want security. Any business start-up involves some risk of failure, but a strong franchise with a proven track record of success will minimize this risk. Successful franchisees do their homework, so they know what they’re getting into.
- Franchisors Supportive Attitude
- Whatever the franchisors style of management may be, an encouraging and supportive approach is often known to go a long way. Franchisors who show a high level of personal support for what franchisees and their teams can achieve create a structure that gives their teams a key back up which is essential to help do their job and build the network. Successful franchisors share their vision with the network, everyone likes to know where they are heading and prefer to follow a leader with clarity and determination and transparent about what they aim to achieve.
- Integrity and Flexibility
- Without any shadow of doubt, the integrity and ethics of a franchisor need to be impeccable. In the absence of integrity and honesty, a franchisor will constantly find himself struggling with major dilemmas about accepting the opportunities and failing to stand their moral grounds. It goes without say that the integrity of any business builds its strong reputation and it follows that a good reputation can be one of the businesses most important assets.
- Flexibility is often invaluable. The best franchisors definitely know how to enforce the requirements of efficient business operations, by so doing the quality of any customer service experience is guaranteed. Maintaining healthy, open and flexible relationships with franchisees is vital to the growth and success of your network.
