Business Information - The Fine Art Of Supporting Franchisees
17th March 2008 - Expense Reduction Analysts
Expense Reduction Analysts Worldwide Franchise Expert, and now the Managing Director of the UK’s largest and most successful Cost Management Franchise Opportunity, Robert Allison provides Whitecollarfranchise exclusively, with his experience and views in relation to that most important of franchise issues – providing effective franchisee support.
A Career in Franchising 
Having started in franchising at just 19 when he deferred his business studies to go travelling, Robert ended up going through what he sees as ‘a strange turn of events’ in becoming the pilot franchisee for an American dry cleaning franchise in Perth, Western Australia.
This first experience in franchising was successful and after two years Robert sold his successful venture to fund a year off which was spent circumnavigating Australia on a sailing boat, a hobby Robert has always remained close to.
He says “On my return to Perth I went to work with a number of franchisors and ended up working for a consultancy firm specialising in Franchise development. Over the next 5 years I helped develop dozens of successful franchise systems in Australia including the recruitment of master franchisees and local franchisees for International groups such as Mail Boxes Etc and Subway.
During this time I was also asked by the state government to lecture on franchising at various events including running a training model for the further education colleges in Perth.”
Robert’s family, meanwhile had become involved in developing Expense Reduction Analysts (ERA) as a business format franchise in Australia and when the brand rights for the UK market became available in 1997 Robert relocated to London at the age of 26 to help develop ERA in the UK market.
Now ten years on he is Managing Director of ERA in the UK which he owns and operates as a family company.
There are few people in the franchise community that can claim such a wealth of experience, from having held roles as a franchisor, franchisee and franchise consultant, which is why his views and comments provided here offer such valuable advice for anyone considering franchising.
‘Innovation’ is great, be cautious of ‘Reinvention’
“I once worked with a franchisor who was fantastic in recruiting new franchisees which meant they grew very quickly. However, it soon became obvious they lacked the people skills to truly manage a network of self employed franchisees” comments Robert “This resulted in a very unhappy network of franchisees with constant disagreements and arguments between the franchisees and the franchisor. I was asked to get involved in trying to resolve some of the issues and found myself chairing franchise meetings which always turned into very negative and argumentative sessions.
The effect of this was a demotivated and distracted franchisee network which soon started to affect each of their businesses, causing many to suffer financial problems as well as support issues. The major problem in the whole equation was an inflexible franchisor who would not listen to what the franchise network needed in support. Constantly redesigning the originally proven business system so the franchisees had new “blue sky” to chase after in the hope of success might have distracted them for a while but did nothing to help solve the real problems.
The two biggest lessons I personally took from this experience was, firstly, make sure any franchisor you are considering has a track record for effectively managing franchisees and also, be wary of any franchise system which is supposedly proven but keeps being radically changed in the hope of future success. This is usually a sign that the system does not work properly in the first place.”
Emphasis on supporting existing franchisees, not selling new ones
“I believe most franchisors will go through the same development process when the first few years are all about the growth of the network in terms of numbers on the ground but quickly the franchisor will realise that their future success is not in how many franchisees they can recruit but in how high they can help them to grow.
Helping a franchisee to become successful in running their own business under your brand is a delicate support process.. If you provide too much support early on and do everything for a new franchisee, they do not learn how to do it for themselves and as a result become dependant. Equally if you do not provide enough support they will never get off the ground and failure will follow.
The role of a professional franchisor is to find this balance and give enough support to ensure success but not so much that they create dependency. From our own
experience, a good example of this was that with each new franchisee we used to provide the first five appointments with potential clients as part of the franchise package. This obviously made it attractive for selling franchises but what we found was that as soon as the first five were used up, the franchisee would turn to us for further help in getting the next five, and so on.
As a result we made a change. We channelled the time and investment of this into additional training and central market tools which ensured new franchisees got the appointments they needed from their own management of a marketing plan. Consequently, most new trainees now have well over ten meetings scheduled before they even leave the 5 week induction course! All of these have come as a result of their management of the marketing tools, which means they can continue to do this forever more. In fact, many have in excess of 10 appointments with the record so far set at 22 appointments made with prospective clients before the franchisee has even finished training!”
Aspects of Good Franchise Support
“In my experience the key factor is having the right support team in the field who truly understand the business model and are not just sitting in an “ivory tower” quoting sections of an operation manual at the franchisees who need help.
In ERA the entire focus of our extensive support structure is on helping to make franchisees successful. To do this the very first thing we need to do is work with the franchisee to define what their definition of success is. For some it may be to earn £70,000 per year, to purchase an overseas property and have the time to enjoy it. For others it might be a determined five year period achieving a six-figure income year on year and building an asset they can sell to fund retirement or other larger investments.
Once these objectives have been defined we can help them to build a plan to reach these goals using their skills and our proven business system. Then, through the use of regular business reviews and constant communication we can help encourage, guide and support their development towards these goals. With a dedicated support team of over 16 staff now in place, we can provide the assistance most needed by the individual franchisees at any stage of their business.
Just as importantly franchisee support should not just come from the franchisor themselves but also from the network of other franchisees. This ‘spirit of reciprocity’ is something I feel ERA has in greater volume than any other franchise company I have ever worked with. Even some of the franchisees we have, who came from other successful franchises, comment on the difference in the culture of ERA, over that of other groups.
The very best testament to this should come from the franchisees themselves, so a potential franchisee should never just accept the half a dozen names given by the franchisor but should be able to randomly pick franchisees to speak with.”
Franchisee Viewpoint - My Experience of Franchise Support
“Whilst operating on my own within my ERA business, I know that there's a support team through Head Office I can call upon at anytime for guidance or advice. We were introduced to many franchisee associates and experts over the 5 weeks residential training in Southampton who have all played a part as 'ad-hoc' or unofficial mentors in their own way since I completed my initial training.
Simply put, the Head Office team provides direct and relevant experiences in the areas that are vital to run a successful ERA business. Every single member of the HO team has skills that compliment the rest of that team. Whenever I pick up the phone to seek advice on a particular business planning, sales, marketing or project-related matter I feel confident that the person I talk to will be able to provide me with insights and suggestions that will benefit me specifically in that area.
Separately, and in a very reassuring way, each member of the team is always ready to make, what I can only describe as, 'positive internal referrals' around the network to promote concepts, habits or activities that franchisee associates have used successfully and are willing to share.
The ERA induction course is World Class. It equalled, if not exceeded, anything I was involved in during my years with Accenture. It further shows that my extra investment in this franchise has delivered value for money."
Gareth Everson – ERA Franchisee, Ex Accenture consultant
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Crucial Advice for Assessing the Support Available
"Having been both a franchisee and a franchisor over the years the biggest single piece of advice I can offer to potential new franchisees is to look beyond the glossy brochures and fancy web sites. Get deep into the business systems, tools and support the franchisor is offering. Aside from speaking with franchisees, ask how many renew at the end of the franchise term, this is usually a better indication of how valued the franchisor support and brand is, by the franchisee.
The other step I always regretted not taking myself when I first bought a franchise is making the time and insisting on speaking with every member of the support structure. Those who are working with the franchisees everyday in the field will often have a different view on the business to those focused on selling the franchise"
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