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Franchisees operate their units independently of your franchised brand. Franchising a business entails losing a degree of control over the brand and its public perception. Franchisee’s operations can impact quality standards and the overall brand image. However, there are methods of mitigating the risks franchising poses to quality and uniformity in customer experience across your brand’s network. This article will explain some essential steps you can take to maintain quality standards across your franchised brand.
The Importance of Quality Standards in Franchising
Quality and consistency are essential aspects of a franchised business. Franchisees operate independently, and this poses a challenge to the quality standards across your brand. Franchisee A may work differently than Franchisee B. Inconsistent standards can affect consumer perception. When dealing with any franchisee in your network, customers will want the same experience and quality goods and services. Accordingly, quality and experience should be the same whether they approach Franchisee A or Franchisee B.
The following sections detail several steps you can take to maintain control and ensure the even implementation of quality standards across your franchise network.
1. Select Franchisees Carefully
One of the most crucial steps when embarking on a franchising journey is selecting the right people to be franchisees. These individuals will operate your brand, so they must be the right fit for your business. Ensure they share your values and vision and have the skills and experience to run a successful franchise.
You must conduct your due diligence on each franchisee before allowing them to join your network. Accordingly, you should conduct thorough background checks and interview prospective franchisees. This is crucial to identify the ideal franchisees who will champion your brand.
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2. Legal Documentation
Legal documentation forms the foundation of your franchise operations. Well-written documents can clarify quality standards and ensure franchisees understand their roles.
Two key documents are the franchise agreement and the franchise operations manual. The franchise agreement is a legally binding contract you share with each franchisee. Within this document, you should stipulate the level of quality standards the franchisee must adhere to. Then, within the franchise operations manual, you can elaborate on these quality standards.
Ensure that the franchise agreement and operations manual contain sufficient detail about your expectations. These documents form the initial part of a franchisee’s understanding of your brand and how they should operate their unit. An experienced franchising lawyer can help you draft these documents, ensure they are sufficiently robust, and protect your franchise business.
3. Training and Support
As a franchisor, you will provide your franchisees with an initial training program. Initial training should be a comprehensive program that:
- teaches franchisees about your brand;
- instils industry knowledge; and
- helps them to understand their roles and how to operate their units.
Ongoing support should allow franchisees access to help and troubleshooting when needed, but it can also include additional training to enable them to develop in their roles. You can also maintain quality standards by providing additional support relating to the following:
- brand image;
- customer experience;
- marketing strategies; and
- new business developments.
4. Make Quality Measurable
Quality standards can sound like an intangible concept to franchisees, so it is critical to outline them clearly. They can be difficult for franchisees to understand if they only exist as elusive targets and unclear messaging in the operations manual.
Consider setting targets for franchisees to make quality standards clear and achievable and make compliance measurable. This way, franchisees will know if their operations are up to standard, allowing you to establish a clear network-wide picture of quality. The health of the network-wide picture can help you to understand where you need to provide additional training and support. Likewise, you may set repercussions, such as termination, in the franchise agreement for severe or continued breaches of quality standards.
This handbook covers all the essential topics you need to know about franchising your business.
Key Takeaways
As a franchisor, brand image is one of your most important assets. Franchisors build their businesses and a solid brand reputation before allowing franchisees to join and operate. A franchisee’s operations can significantly impact your brand image, even if they run a single unit within a sprawling network. However, there are ways you can protect your brand.
This article has discussed some methods franchisors can adopt to maintain quality standards within their franchise networks. These include:
- being selective when onboarding prospective franchisees;
- having robust legal documentation and a detailed operations manual;
- providing initial and ongoing training and support; and
- making quality measurable.
If you need legal advice about franchising, our experienced franchise lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents. Call us today on 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.
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