The Franchise Manual Podcast Kit VInson

My Podner in this episode is Jordis Small and she’s going to talk with us today about branding. Branding is a word that is used in many contexts and sometimes misused and misunderstood. Jordis promises to clear all of that up for us today. This will be a fun ride
Note: Ms. Jordis is recovering from a nasty cold and she lost her voice. The voice is scratchy but the content is GOLDEN.
Time Stamps
Jordis Small Intro
00:00:32
Segment 1
00:02:42
Get to know Jordis Small
Segment 2
00:18:00
Topic Segment – Branding Your Franchise
Segment 3
01:14:12
Quickdraw Questions
 
Topics Discussed in this Episode
What is your brand? 
Most folks think it’s logo, fonts, colors... It’s much more
Why do you need to know your brand better than your spouse? 
Are you prepared to articulate your brand to potential franchisees?
How to audit your own brand...
Test your logo to see if it’s good, is everything in alignment with the vision of the company, will people understand it with you telling them?
What makes a GOOD logo?
Is your logo scalable, timeless, and appropriate for growth?
Why do you need a robust brand guide before franchising?
What is worth including, like color usage ect…
How to set up your franchise for success through creating an asset library. Basically pre making various marketing materials for them so they don’t DIY.
Why does this brand work now? Prepare for growth and longevity. 
Jordis Small
Stellen Design
www.stellendesign.com
jordis@stellendesign.com
310-418-6287
 
Kit Vinson
www.franman.net
kit.vinson@franman.net
214-736-3939 x 101
 

My Podner in this episode is Tom Wells and he’s going to talk with us today about the challenges of scaling a brand over 50 units. It’s a moving target and things change, and he’s going to share some REALLY COOL stuff with us today.
 
Time Stamps
Tom Wells Intro
00:00:31
Segment 1
00:02:13
Get to know Tom Wells
Segment 2
00:27:05
Topic Segment – Challenges of Scaling to Over 50 Units
Segment 3
01:06:27
Quickdraw Questions
 
Topics Discussed in this Episode
Key areas franchisors miss in their first year:
This ultimately comes down to People, Process, and Prioritization. Many entrepreneurs didn’t become entrepreneurs to focus on process and structure – the most successful ones hire around this need.  People: You ave to get the best team and figure out where to hire over time. Requires culture of accountability which sounds easy but is difficult to implement. Additionally, the founder(s) need to manage their people, but also give them authority to execute.  Process: What works at 10 units or 20 units, doesn’t work at 50+ units. A leader or team can run around putting fires out at 10 units, but you can’t do this at 50+ units. Many organizations never think about what process is needed to make better decisions over time. Additionally, need to want to get and understand the right data which is hard with limited resources. Prioritization: Everyone has a day job; can only take on a few big strategic initiatives at a time. Most founders have a list of 20 major initiatives they want their team to do at any time. Some get done, some don’t – all of them are not done at the highest level. We spend a lot of time focusing each year on what are the main ones to provide the biggest benefit to the business (this is very hard) and then helping the teams focus on these items. Do this repeatedly and the business constantly evolves nicely. Being Ready to Grow: To grow from the concept stage, you need the below but I always start with “If it’s a great investment for the franchisee, the brand will generally do very well”: Great unit economics: This is almost impossible to fix along the way. If the concept doesn’t work from the start, it’s unlikely to have better unit economics along the way. Our view is 3 year or better payback is top 25%. Anything better is best in class. We also look at store level margin as it provides insight into cushion for franchisee performance (ie: very low margin has limited room for error). Differentiation: It’s important to have something that sets a brand apart from its competitors. This applies to all concepts regardless of industry. Tons of competition in restaurants, how are we getting a competitor to pick us vs their 100 other options (product, service, experience, technology). In services, there are tons of local companies that can do plumbing, why pick a franchise (marketing, service, answer phones, clean looking techs, technology, etc.) Structure / Process : This is different from the process above. This is being able to sign franchise agreements knowing that you are growing a repeatable concept (ops manuals and guides, trade design, product, branding). You don’t want different menus at different locations, different store designs, etc. Key to have something where there is benefit of scale and franchising. How brands scale: Most grow without a lot of thought of who the franchisee is and where they are growing. Need to be thoughtful here. Who the franchisee is: Over the first 10 or 20 locations, you really figure out who is the best operator for a brand. Additionally, you learn who is not a fit. These need to be addressed thoughtfully otherwise a brand will struggle with bad franchisees as it gets larger. Where you grow: It’s easy to sign franchise agreements with interested franchisees that are far away. This depends on complexity of the concept. For example, restaurants require distributions centers an

My Podner in this episode is Michael Peterson and he’s going to talk with us today about the mistakes that new franchisors typically make during their first year of operation. Some of these mistakes can be quite expensive, while others can lead to the death of your entire system. If you are a newly minted franchisor, or if you are about to start your journey, this is one that you won’t want to miss.
 
Time Stamps
Michael Peterson Intro
00:00:31
Segment 1
00:02:37
Get to know Michael Peterson
Segment 2
00:20:39
Topic Segment – New Franchisor Pitfalls
Segment 3
01:03:05
Quickdraw Questions
 
Topics Discussed in this Episode
Key areas franchisors miss in their first year:
Pre-launch
Not getting the FDD to fully capture the business model. This leads to something so prevalent that I came up with a name for it; the 2nd year re-write. So many franchisors make massive changes to their second year FDD either because they didn’t capture the existing model in the first year, or they didn’t have someone walk them through the thought processes they should be going through on every item before they commit it to paper. Having “to be implemented” clauses in their agreements. The most common one I have seen here is a national ad fund, though I have seen tech fees quite a few times as well. When your franchisee #1 or #2 has been operating for 3 years, paying you your royalty only, and suddenly you decide your system is big enough to justify the advertising fund of 1-3%, believe me they will not be happy. Start taking this from day one, even if you turn around and spend it in their market. Cutting corners or coming in underfunded. This is probably the #1 cause of failure of young franchisors. Deciding to write an operations manual in-house, find the cheapest franchise attorney possible (or, worse yet, trying to do an FDD without a franchise attorney), not having quality marketing materials, not having funds set aside for franchise sales; these are so self-defeating. A bad operating manual can lead to system problems and even litigation. If you succeed as a franchisor you will end up using a good franchise attorney, if you start out with inexperienced or ineffective counsel, you’ll just pay in negotiation, litigation, or just headaches before you switch to better counsel. Your marketing materials are your first impression, you have to make them count. Franchise sales cost money, period. If you don’t have a good marketing budget you will struggle to grow. Think about this. Each year, you are going to spend between $6,000 and $25,000 on renewal, depending on how many registration states you go into and how complicated your audit is. I would guess the average is close to $12,000. If your lead generation spend results in one sale, then you have an extra $12,000 in costs for that sale. If you have a robust budget and someone solid handling franchise sales, and you award 3 franchisees, then the renewal is only adding $4,000 cost-per-close. Big difference. Post Launch
Hands down, the biggest mistake a franchisor can make is bringing in the wrong franchisee. If you have been doing all the ‘right’ things, spending money, having a professional franchise sales person either in-house or outsourced, reaching out to brokers to talk about your brand, and 6 or 12 or even 18 months in you don’t have a franchise sale, that can be frustrating. It also might happen; the first franchisees are the hardest to find (lets delve into that). I have seen this situation cause many franchisors to award a franchise to someone they shouldn’t and regret it for years to come. Not having a culture of compliance from day 1 is another seemly small issue that will come back to haunt you. If your FA calls for quarterly or annual financials from your franchisees, get them even if you don’t know what to do with them! If your franchisees have a required add spend, monitor it from day on

My Podner in this episode is Tom Portesy and he’s going to talk with us today about how to maximize the return on your investment at a franchise expo, how to avoid the pitfalls, and best practices that will help you represent your brand in the best light.  
Time Stamps
Tom Portesy Intro
00:00:27
Segment 1
00:03:41
Get to know Tom Portesy
Segment 2
00:18:22
Topic Segment – The Franchise Expo
Segment 3
01:03:42
Quickdraw Questions
 
Topics Discussed in this Episode
What is a franchise expo Short history of the expo How to manage realistic expectations of an expo Know your objective DOs and DON’Ts at an expo Take advantage of the free training offered by MFV Spend time developing your opening line Know the value of a lead Control how much time you spend with each person Which industries do better at an expo  
Tom Portesy
MFV Expositions
tom.portesy@comexposium.com
https://www.franchiseexpo.com/
 
Kit Vinson
www.franman.net
kit.vinson@franman.net
214-736-3939 x 101

My Podner in this episode is Jackie Hoegger and she’s going to talk with us today about how to market to prospective franchisees. This conversation spans topics such as website design, digital marketing, even down to how you treat your existing franchisees. This is our first episode on the topic of marketing and we came out of the chute  with a GREAT one..
Time Stamps
Jackie Hoegger Intro
00:00:33
Segment 1
00:05:26
Get to know Jackie Hoegger
Segment 2
00:16:50
Topic Segment – Marketing to Prospective Franchisees
Segment 3
01:00:57
Quickdraw Questions
 
Topics Discussed in this Episode
Brand on Fire (00:21:49) - Elevate your brand as the key authority in the franchise world - Go beyond simple brand awareness and stand out….provide MORE value than your competitors. Know your “story” Know your passion and learn to convey your passion to the prospective franchisee This is a marathon, not a sprint Hone in on your God given skills What is it that makes your concept special Most franchisors will need help developing this point Social All The Way (00:29:12) - Tell your story as a Franchisor on social media - your new franchisees are watching. Get them to trust you as a leader before they ever make the call or the link online to talk.  Social media is the best ROI on delivering your message Know the target profile of the perfect franchisee, then dial in your social media advertising Social media not only allows people to see you from the outside, it also allows people to be able to trust you The Power of the Existing Franchisees (00:32:16) - Let them sing your praises! Let them garner the attention of YOU!  Your franchisees are your #1 asset. Nobody can credibly sing your praises better than your current franchisees Prospective franchisees are most interested in what your existing franchisees say about you, and the WILL ask. Coach your prospective franchisees before they make the validation calls so that they know how and when to ask follow up questions. If they talk to an existing franchisee who does not sing your praises, then teach them how to ask questions such as “How much do you spend on marketing?” Marketing isn’t just advertising, it is much more. It also includes soft skills such as how you treat your franchisees. Existing franchisees are a DIRECT arm of your marketing Communication is king Web oh Web (00:37:02) - Your website needs to simply rock - It’s the front door to your business and future franchisees will go there FIRST! Make it EASY PEASY to find out how to gee a Franchisee. Spend money on your website – it IS marketing Spend money on a good CRM software that will allow you to grab a lead and not lose it Calculate the value of a prospective franchisee over the life of the contract to help you stay motivated NOT to lose a lead It may take several touches with a prospect before they decide to move to the next step. Use the CRM to maintain communication with a prospect. Keep is Simple in a Complicated Process (00:46:00) - Give them a simple process from the first bite.  As you discover if they can fit into your culture ad family - make them feel welcomed!  Of course - Discovery Day is your wow factor! They should look back and thing, “This was the easiest thing I’ve ever done.” Make it fun, energetic, and educational Assign the prospect to one person and that person “owns” them. This makes the prospect feel special and prevents them from falling between the cracks Eyeballs and Attention (00:49:04) - Optimize your Appeal and let them see the way you treat your current franchisees as true partners…..support programs - rapport with each other - and mostly - the dream to have multiple units.  Treat franchisees as true partners Franchisees are watching EVERYTHING you do, as if you were on a first date They pick up on kindness, humility, and compassion, and this is the best marketing you can do The power

My Podner in this episode is me, Kit Vinson (finally!), and I'm going to talk to you about what franchisors should know about their franchise operating manual.
Time Stamps
Kit Vinson Intro
00:00:29
Segment 1
00:02:15
Get to know Kit Vinson
Segment 2
00:13:30
Topic Segment – The Franchise Operating Manual
Segment 3
00:00:00
There are no Quickdraw Questions in this episode
 
Topics Discussed in this Episode
What’s Included in a franchise operating manual?
Every manual is customized to the industry of the company, but there are elements of a franchise operating manual that are common to all manuals.
Introductory chapters Pre-Opening chapter Human Resource chapter Daily Operating Procedures chapters Marketing chapter Sales Chapter  
What is the process for producing a franchise operating manual?
Creation of the custom outline for the manual Legacy documentation review Identification of the content experts Information gathering phase Production phase Revision phase Make the manual creation process fun so that you can start the flow of your team’s creativity juices.
 
How often does the typical franchise manual need updating?
Manual updates should be completed on a regular basis. Younger franchise systems will need to update their operating manual more frequently because their systems seem to evolve at a much faster pace than that of a mature franchise system.
If you do not keep your franchise operating manual updated regularly, you increase the probability of you having to explain to a judge why your manual isn’t up-to-date.
 
How are franchise operating manuals typically distributed to the franchisees?
Hard copy (paper) PDF Web based platform (Wiki-style) Hard copy manuals have extreme limitations. They are not secure. They are only a snapshot of your system on that day. Media limitations.
PDF manuals are searchable, but they are not secure. They are also a snapshot of your company’s system on that day.  They are relatively easily to update but you run the risk of having multiple versions of your manual floating around your system.
Web based, online operating manuals are secure, they are extremely easy to update, you can track your franchisees activity in the manual, and you can include multimedia content such as videos.
 
What are the functions of a franchise operations manual?
First, the Franchise Operations Manual is the authority document of the franchise System Standards. The System Standards are the standard procedures that a franchisor requires of all franchisees in order to duplicate the customer experience in every location. The customer experience is the driving force behind profitability. If you can duplicate a favorable customer experience, then you may have a business that you can franchise. If you have a well prepared Franchise Agreement, it will refer to the Franchise Operations Manual as the System Standard. This way, as your system grows and your System Standards change, you only have to update the manual instead of updating the Franchise Agreement.
 
Second, the Franchise Operations Manual is the most effective tool for protecting your Brand. A company’s Brand is one of its most valuable assets. The Brand is also the asset that is at most risk when a company decides to franchise. When you franchise a concept, you are putting your Brand in the hands of other people, all of whom likely have different ideas about the best direction for the company. A properly prepared Franchise Operations Manual, with well-defined and organized System Standards, will be one of the few tools you have to manage the Brand and control the franchisees when they try to act on their vision for what is best for your Brand.
 
Third, the Franchise Operations Manual will likely be the principal tool for training new franchisees. It is the “Your Company for Dummies” book. You have to assume that most of your franchisees will not have