TRAINING AND SUPPORT

Introduction:

You just signed your franchise agreement and paid the franchise fee. Now what? The franchise discovery process is now ended. The onboarding of you as a new franchisee begins!

Note:

There is no one standard for the onboarding process and the training and support provided by franchises. There are several thousand different franchises across dozens of industries. An important part of the franchise discovery process is evaluating the training and support franchisees receive.

Most franchisors look for a culture fit, internal motivation, a positive mindset, people skills, and some business aptitude when selecting franchisees. Experience with the business or industry is often NOT necessary. There are exceptions, yet, in general, though, specific knowledge and experience in the type of business truly is not needed.

Naturally, the comprehensiveness and quality of training and support will vary from franchise to franchise. A general framework of training and support is presented in this Alert. Realize that variation will occur by the franchise, type of industry it is in, state licensing requirements, location type (home-based, professional office, retail….), and other relevant factors.

On-boarding:

A franchise staff member will meet with you over the phone to guide you through what to do now that you are a franchisee. You may be sent a “Welcome Kit” type of introduction.

Oftentimes a trainer, operations manager, business coach or similar person will be assigned to a new franchisee.

The franchisee will be scheduled for a training class. This can be in-person at the corporate headquarters or done virtually online, depending on the franchise. Expect about a week or so of eight-hour days for this class.

To prepare for training is Pre-training. This involves a list of To Do’s like getting a business phone line, business email account, business bank account, business license, and other “checklist” items.

Depending on the franchise and the industry it is in, some states may require you to apply for a special license like a real estate license, senior care license or a general contractor’s license.

During pre-training, you may be advised to order equipment, computer software, a company vehicle (if needed), supplies, materials and other necessities for the business

Pre-training is often several to many weeks long. The purpose is for you to get ready to launch the business as soon as possible after training is completed.

When to attend training:

Franchises that do not involve a brick-and-mortar location often have franchisees attend a training class as soon as is convenient for the new franchisee.

Franchises that have a physical location often schedule training after the site location and lease negotiations are complete. Build-out or construction will be underway. The franchisor will guide the franchisee when it makes sense to attend training which will be at the appropriate time before the Grand Opening date.

Who attends training:

In addition to the franchisee attending, other people may include a spouse, business partner, or another family member like an adult child who will be involved in the business.

Some “semi-absentee” franchises require that the general manager (GM) of the business be in place and attend training with the franchisee.

What does training involve?

During pre-training and training, new franchisees receive brand standards, various manuals, and assorted training materials.

A wide range of topics are covered. They include what to do before opening, how to open, how to operate the business, how to market the business, how to recruit, train, and retain employees (or subcontractors or independent contractors as the business model indicates), and how to get customers.

Pre-training and training lay the foundation of the business. New franchisees are going through checklist items and have someone facilitating their progress on an individual basis

To be expected is that initially, business knowledge shared will be basic. As a franchisee becomes more experienced in the business, ongoing training and support will be more complex.

Field Training:

After initial training, some franchises have staff visit franchisees in their territories over the course of the first year or so. A field visit may not be relevant for some types of franchises. If field visits occur, they are done to check in, see how the business is progressing, and assist the franchisee in whatever needs addressing.

There can be multiple field visits or none at all. Some franchises may have a business coach assigned to each franchisee and weekly phone calls may be all that is needed. What happens after training can be determined by each franchisee’s situation.

Ongoing training:

As a franchisee’s experience deepens, and technology advances, innovations occur, markets shift, and economic factors change, the franchise’s learning management system will help franchisees stay current in the business throughout their tenure.

It is helpful to employees as they come and go, and as experienced employees wish to advance their skills and knowledge, too.

Support:

As a franchisee gains experience and concludes the first year or two, a different operations manager or business coach is expected to step in. The franchisee is past checking items off a list and gains a deeper understanding and a more complex appreciation of the business opportunity.

Now it’s time to build on the foundation that has been laid and take the business to the next level. This is where the next coach/field manager/general manager is advantageous.

At the appropriate time in a franchisee’s growth and comfort level, this second mentor can refer a franchisee to a peer support group.

Peer Support:

Many franchises have franchisee peer groups. There will come a time when a franchisee is ready to join a peer group, and is eager to join one. These peers share best practices. Often they track and report their KPIs (key performance indicators). The goal is that they assist each other in having winning businesses.

The stronger the franchisees, the stronger the franchise is. Like a rising tide that lifts all ships, increased brand equity benefits all in the franchise system.

Support staff at the corporate office is always a call, text or email away. Given the growth cycle of a franchisee’s business, reaching out to corporate typically becomes less frequent as communicating with peers becomes more commonplace and desired by “new” or newer franchisees.

Conclusion:

With the stroke of a pen, a franchise candidate becomes a new franchisee. From there, a natural progression takes place from onboarding to pre-training checklists, to classroom lessons, to coaching calls, to learning from peers.

It’s my pleasure to help you understand the training and support to expect from a franchisor.