June « 2012 « Logic Does Not Apply :: Franchise Business Advice

June, 2012

Franchise Advice: Don’t Be a Teenager + 3 More Tips

Thanks for staying tuned in for tips 4-7 on making the most of your first two years as a franchise owner. Here are tips 1-3.

4. Don’t get creative. By this I mean, just do what the franchisor trains you to do, and don’t do what the franchisor trains you to avoid. It sounds so simple, but isn’t. Somehow new franchisees cannot help but try to somehow re-engineer the business system they just paid $40,000 or more for. I did it too, and suffered for it. Why do we do this? Maybe it’s because we hold so much value in our past experience, and rightfully so when we’ve enjoyed past career success. It’s hard to put our egos and input on the shelf, which fortunately or unfortunately is what a new franchisee needs to do to minimize the pain of the learning curve.

Joe Mathews, my friend and colleague, and the author of the best book about franchising likens franchisees to rebellious teenagers. He’s so right! Do you remember being a clueless teenager who needed yet resented parental advice and authority? Do you remember rebelling in stupid ways for no other reason than you did not like being told what to do? (I do. Oy.). It sounds silly, but this analogy perfectly describes how and why some new franchisees struggle. The smart ones come around and figure out the franchisor’s plan is there for a reason before they run out of money. In short, don’t let your past experience and your ego get in the way of your success.

5. Focus on your skills over lead flow. This one is a bit counter-intuitive, but hear me out. Our instincts drive us to focus our efforts on getting more and more leads for potential customers, and yes, lead flow is very important. But if your sales and conversion skills/systems stink, it doesn’t matter how many leads you have coming in the top of the funnel. One of the best pieces of advice I’ve received is to focus on continually developing my skills, “sharpening the saw” as Stephen Covey put it. The better I am at converting leads to customers, the fewer leads I need. Business cycles are as predictable as the changing of the seasons; there will be abundant times and there will be lean times. By prioritizing my own skill development over lead flow, I enjoy more control and competitive advantage in all seasons.

6. Enroll in Sandler Training. I’m a walking billboard for Sandler Training. It saved my business and is the best investment I’ve made in my business and in myself. My first two years as a franchise consultant were a real struggle (see #4). Sandler helped me to master doing more with less (see #5). Franchisees with strong sales ability have a HUGE competitive advantage, regardless of business/industry type. Sandler is the answer. Just do it.

7. Delegate, NOW. All business have some degree of administrative need (bookkeeping, data entry/management). Money is flying out the door with not much coming in when you’re getting started, so I certainly appreciate the tendency to try to keep costs down by doing as much as you can (including admin) yourself. The problem is the longer you wait to delegate your administrative work, the harder it is to let it go; you develop your own system of handling it, which is probably not very good and therefore harder to transition to someone else. Even worse, you find yourself not having enough time to devote to revenue generating work because you are bogged down with administrative details. Trust me; I know.

This is called stepping over dollars to pick up pennies and it took me eight years to figure this one out. Today, after a painful transition, my business is more profitable even with the $2,500/mo I spend in outsourced, virtual administrative costs. Plan to hire part-time administrative help from Day 1. Virtual assistant services are very affordable and easy to find, and you can likely share the service and costs with other franchisees. If you cannot afford it, either wait to start the business until you can afford it, or choose a lower cost franchise so that you can. You’ll be leaps and bounds ahead two years into your business by making this small, added investment in the beginning; I wish I had.

Tips 8, 9 and 10 are coming soon!

June, 2012

Franchise Advice: Don’t Be a Teenager + 3 More Tips

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