Trust your instincts
When you buy a business franchise of any sort you are entering into a business partnership, in which your relationship with the franchisor (or 'principle'), and their people, will be absolutely crucial to your success. You must be able to trust and work with the franchisor and the franchise company's staff - especially the directors and senior managers. If you have the slightest doubt as to the integrity of any of the people within the franchising company think extremely carefully before you go ahead with them. Trust your instincts - if you feel uncomfortable during the selection and recruitment stage it is likely that there are grounds for concern. Feeling uncomfortable about trust and relationships may not necessarily mean that the franchisor is untrustworthy, but it does probably mean that the 'fit' may not be right for you. Relationships are personal things - some people you'll get on with and see eye to eye with; others you may not. You will be more likely to succeed, and receive a good level of appropriate support, if there is a good emotional 'fit' with the franchisor.
Trust your instincts to tell you whether the franchising company has a similar value system and ethos to your own. If you value the customer above all else, do they too? If they do not then they may not be fully in tune with your style and business philosophy. Finding a good emotional and philosophical match with your chosen franchising company is almost as important as choosing the right sort of business. Given sympathetic and genuinely relevant support we can achieve almost anything - be sure that your franchise partner will be able to provide it.
Choose your Passion and make franchising Fun.
Buying a franchise that you will enjoy is the most important factor of all. Most businesses – all types of business, not just franchises – succeed when the owner truly enjoys the products and/or services that the business supplies. If you really enjoy and are interested in the products and services, and the customers and markets, then you will learn and gather information and skills rapidly. If you enjoy the business it is likely that you will possess a good deal of knowledge about it already. Being an expert and a specialist at what you do is essential to running any successful business – enjoyment and expertise naturally go hand-in-hand.
You will find it easy to specialise and become an expert in an area that you enjoy quite simply because it is a pleasure and a joy – not a chore. When you work in a service or product area that you love, you will enthuse about it, and your enthusiasm will be conveyed to your customers and everyone you meet. People like to deal with enthusiastic suppliers – people who love their work. When you enjoy the subject of your franchise business you will naturally put in more effort than if you worked in a field that fails to inspire and excite you. People who love their work always work hard and put in more hours. Their work becomes part of their life, rather than it being just a means to pay for their living costs.
by Rob Hilditch, a.k.a. Joey Franchise
Are you cut out to be a franchisee?
Before buying a franchise, ten important questions need to be carefully and thoughtfully answered:
1. Are you ready to take on the responsibilities of starting and running your own business?
2. Does your family accept your choice and are they ready to support you?
3. Do you like the activity you are considering enough to make a commitment for 5, 10 or 15 years?
4. Do you like dealing with people and are you good at it? – You will have to interact with your customers, your employees, the franchisor and other franchisees.
5. Do you like the franchisor’s staff / those people with whom you will be working?
6. Are you willing to follow the franchisor’s rules and system?
7. Can you afford the franchise?
8. Have you carefully studied the legal documents?
9. Does the franchise you are considering have a track record of success?
10. Are the other franchisees generally happy and successful?
Ensure that you review the Franchisor’s Disclosure Document thoroughly. They should give you one regardless of whether they are required to you in your province or not. That’s just good business on their part. It will include a list of locations and the contact information for those locations. Call a few, and. Or just in the market your looking in. Call Franchise Partners in others parts of the country as well.
Joey’s Franchise Group encourages all of its prospects to reach out to existing Franchise Partners, it’s why call them Partners!
Joey’s Seafood Restaurants | Joey’s Urban | MVP Modern Barbers | Homes & Land Magazine Canada
Look for Integrity in your Franchisor
Look for high integrity propositions and franchisors
High integrity is essential for two crucial reasons:
You will keep your peace of mind, and sleep at night. The world is full of miserable millionaires - people who have exploited others to make their money - don't be seduced by this false dream. Always behaving and deciding with high integrity will keep you safe, well, and probably make you wealthier too.
You will delight your customers and good word will spread, which is vital for local service businesses, which nearly all franchise businesses are. Local businesses live or die by their reputations. Behaving with high integrity will automatically ensure that your reputation shines and grows. Many well established successful franchisees never need to advertise or look for their next customers - their customers find them.
If you buy a franchise that lacks integrity, then with all the best will in the world, you will be pushing water uphill.
Look for and buy a franchise which has high integrity at the centre of its products, services and business ethos, and you are half way to running a high integrity franchise business - all that remains is for you to ensure that your own input and activity are high integrity too.
The Four Way Test
Everyone has heard of it, everyone has thought of it, but does everyone use it or at least the principals it is derived from?
The test, which has been translated into more than 100 languages, asks the following questions:
Of the things we think, say or do
1. Is it the TRUTH?
2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
Joey’s Franchise Group has used the test in one form or another for many years. It allows us to bring great products and quality to all of our franchise systems. It helps ensure we bring quality Franchise Partners to market and most importantly it has built a level of trust within our community. Over 5o% of our ReFranchise stores are sold to existing staff members. That says a lot about the brand development, not necessarily the growth, but the brand trust that our Partners and their Employes have with us.
When you’re choosing your next franchise, ask them how they implement the Four Way Test.
Rob Hilditch – VP of Business Development
Joey’s Restaurant | Joey’s Urban | MVP Modern Barbers | Homes & Land Magazine Canada
What drives us....our Partners.
“When we work hard towards something we believe in, it’s called passion. When we work hard towards something we don’t believe in, it’s called stress.”, Simon Sinek
What is your Passion? What drives you?
Our Franchise Group is driven by our Passion to see our Franchise Partner’ succeed. Succeed in their businesses and succeed in their personal lives. Each of our Partners is a member of our franchise family.
We try to build this foundation on trust. Trust is a feeling. It is the same feeling for friends or companies. To earn that trust we need to act like our friends would when interacting with our partners.
Our Partners are the reason for it! They are out ‘why’.
Financing for Franchises
Did you know that most financial institutions have franchise financing programs and that typically your best chance of success and best rate is usually with your current institution. When researching your financing options, start with your local bank that your already hold accounts with. They will be able do give your the best terms and service. Using other lenders can lead to higher rates and shorter terms unless you use institutions that have franchise specific programs. If your local institution can’t provide you with satisfactory terms, look to the institutions below. We recommend their programs regularly and have great success with our franchise partners using them. They’ll not only help you get the financing you need but also review the franchise business model you are considering and give you advice on them.
TD Canada Trust Franchise Financing
Scotia Bank Franchise Financing
Success in the restaurant business...
Success in the restaurant business can be elusive. What’s more, success means different things to different people. Some operators want to just make a living. Others have loftier goals – maximization of market share, achievement of targeted return on investment and so on. Regardless of one’s definition of success, the basics in the restaurant industry never change.
Here are the top 10 factors that contribute to success in our industry:
• Validated concept definition. Can you clearly state what experience your restaurant offers, what products it serves and what service-style it employs? If not, you’re not sure what your restaurant is all about and neither are your customers.
• Understanding your restaurant’s demand types and sources. Is your demand destination, generative or impulse? What is your trade area?
• Location. Regardless of your restaurant’s types and sources of demand, customers must be able to find and access your restaurant easily.
• Differentiated brand imagery. What makes you stand out from your competition?
• Targeted value proposition. Consumers are more knowledgeable and more demanding than ever. Value means offering the choices, convenience and monetary satisfaction at whatever price point the consumer selects.
• Targeted marketing. Make sure your marketing focuses on your trade area, your customer demographics and their buying behaviours. Find ways to measure the success of each marketing program.
• Quality food. You’re only as successful as you last meal.
• Quality service. You’re only as good as your last customer interaction. Do you talk about good service or does everyone in your organization understand it and live it?
• Flawless execution. Do all the elements of the experience you expect to provide to your customers come together every hour of every day? How do you know? Do you take action to make sure that they do?
• Customer data. Do you really know your customers – their demographic profile, their needs, their wants, their expectations
Joey’s Urban | Joey’s Restaurants | MVP Modern Barbers | Homes & Land Magazine
Hospitality.....
Ultimately, hospitality is your competitive edge. Don’t confuse that with providing good service — you can give good service and still have people leave feeling un-cared for.
True hospitality doesn’t come from what you DO, it is a result of how you ARE. This creates a training dilemma. How do you help people learn to BE different? For that matter, how do YOU learn to be different?
The truth is that you don’t learn it as much as you allow it to blossom from the inside. It is a wonderfully natural — and totally painless — process of seeing life from a different direction. A Place of Hospitality is designed to help you move in that direction … and help you stay in that place once you have found it.
“To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity.” – Donald A. Adams
It all starts with…….you!
Avoiding franchise remorse...
Much like the picture attached, ask yourself, what makes you feel good. The best feeling in the world, is knowing you made the right decision and having no remorse in it.
At Joey’s Franchise Group, we believe in making our Franchise Partners feel good by ensuring they feel happy about their decision to choose one of our Franchise concepts.
Evidence of support tends to nurture trust and builds group resilience. It is typically sought by people in three primary forms:
• Consistent Leadership Behavior
• Regular Feedback
• Adequate Resources
Without sufficient or appropriate forms of support, individuals and the groups they belong to, tend to fuel their own anxiety and stress. This is counterproductive which in turn hampers trust and performance of all kinds.
In business almost any action we take is dependent on support of others, and approval either before or after the fact. In contrast to criticism and complaint, expressions of approval and support do have long shelf-lives.
Our support system of our Franchise Partners is integral to their and our success. It allows them to feel great about their decision.
Rob Hilditch, VP of Business Development
Joey’s Franchise Group – Great Canadian Franchises
