Franchise Trends: Technology

The following is an excerpt from?Chapter 10 Franchising Strategies: The Entrepreneurs Guide to Success, a franchise textbook by Ed Teixeira and Richard Chan, available on Amazon.com?This book is an excellent resource for students, business owners and entrepreneurs seeking to learn about the franchise business model.

Franchise Operations and Technology has been introduced into various components of franchise operations by numerous franchisors. From residential services to fast food to homecare, more franchisors are looking to technology to increase franchisee productivity and enhance the customer experience. An example of the future role of technology in franchising is exemplified by franchisor, Neighborly, based in Waco, Texas, the parent company of twenty-seven home service brands and more than 4,300 franchises in nine countries and eight corporate support centers. Mike Bidwell, president and CEO of Neighborly states that they are pursuing predictive analytics, which is the use of data, statistical algorithms, and machine learning techniques to identify the likelihood of future outcomes. This can be a tool to optimize opportunities to enhance their franchisees’ growth. In the food category, Tracy Skeans, COO of YUM Brands, the mega franchisor which operates Habit Burger Grill, KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell, stated that the restaurant job of the future will require strong people skills and the ability to leverage technology and be digitally savvy. Skeans said Yum increased its investments in technological tools to make the restaurant jobs easier and more fulfilling. The future of the restaurant is going to be younger employees who have grown up in a digitally native way, no one is going to sit and look at a binder to be trained anymore.

BrightStar Care one of the leading home care franchises uses a proprietary technology called the Athena Business System (ABS). It includes time and attendance of caregivers, who use a mobile device to clock in and out. The franchise operator gets an alert if the caregiver is late which enables the franchisee to let the client know their caregiver is on their way or send another caregiver. Also, when patient assessments are done, the system will instantly generate an electronic plan of care so clients, family members, and nurses can view it. Finally, the system generates five questions for each visit. If any of the questions are answered affirmatively regarding a patient’s condition the agency’s nurse is automatically notified. It creates management by exception that helps to prioritize a nurse’s time by responding to the neediest client immediately.

Another increased use of technology in franchising is evidenced by McDonald’s which acquired Apprente,a 2-year-old startup in 2019. Apprente specializes in voice-based conversational technology. After that transaction, McDonald is entered a strategic relationship with IBM to build AI-powered customer care solutions and voice recognition applications. IBM was reported to be acquiring MCD Tech Labs to further accelerate the development of AI automated order taking.3 Franchisors can employ technology to help grow their franchisee business. Reis & Ivry’s Frozen Yogurt Robot is a fully automated franchise that uses machines to serve the yogurt. The franchisee can lower employee turnover and reduce certain expenses that come with owning a yogurt shop. The machines can be installed in high-traffic areas across the country, from shopping malls to college campuses, without having to lease a store front to place them in. Robotics is also being used in several industries. Large quick-serve restaurant franchisors continue to introduce and assess robots who can flip hamburgers and perform other labor-intensive tasks. Various forms of technology can benefit franchisor expansion because it can mean less work for franchisee employees. This can enable a franchisee to buy and operate multiple franchise units. Also, by operating more efficiently, franchisees can free up valuable time, so they can focus on managing additional business’ locations.

About the Author:?Ed Teixeira

Ed Teixeira is a recognized franchise expert with over 40 years’ experience in the franchise industry. He has served as a corporate executive for franchise firms in the retail, manufacturing, healthcare and technology industries and was a franchisee of a multi-million-dollar home healthcare franchise. He has spoken at a number of venues including the International Franchise Expo, European Health Care Trade Show, Luxemburg and Chinese Franchise Association in Shanghai, China. Over the course of his career, Ed has been involved with over 1,000 franchise locations and launched franchise concepts from existing business models. Ed can be contacted [email protected].

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