Hispanic Enterprise - October/November 2007 - (Page 57)

ranchising isn’t only about the brand. It’s also about the systems and services franchisors provide to help the brand succeed. While marketing and administration systems are industry standards, forward-thinking franchisors are getting more creative with their services—offering support hotlines, training webinars and even business coaches. “A good system is critical to the franchisor,” says Tom Scarda, a consultant and coach with FranChoice, a franchise consultancy in Eden Pairie, Minnesota. “If a layman can ﬁgure out how to run a residential painting company better than CertaPro Painters, sell smoothies and coffees faster than Maui Wowi Hawaiian, or run a better system to train dogs than Bark Busters, why buy a franchise?” Indeed, services can give franchisees the competitive edge. Take Modern Purair, a HVAC cleaning company. It offers a centralized call center to manage daily booking and dispatching schedules nationwide, and customized public relations support to get local media exposure. Or, as another example, health food restaurant chain Pockets boasts an apprenticeship program that sends an experienced employee on-site during for the ﬁrst two weeks of a new store’s opening. Jorge Armenteros, executive vice president of Franchise Operations for Guatemala-based Campero USA, a Latin American chicken restaurant chain with 250 stores worldwide, offers his franchisees one-on-one time with business consultants. The business coaches help franchisees build and execute their business plans. “We have all the standard teams, like the development team and the marketing team, but our business consultants are the key liaison between us and our HISPANIC ENTERPRISE F franchisees,” he explains. “Our coaches focus more on the business plan than the day-to-day operations of the restaurant itself because that’s where the value is.” Here’s how it works: Pollo Campero assigns franchise consultants by region. The consultant’s job is to ensure the franchisee succeeds by helping to strengthen the owner’s weaker skills. For some franchisees that means coaching on customer retention, for others it may mean ﬁnding a new site. * “THE FRANCHISE COMPANY HAS TO BE ABLE TO DECLARE AND DEMONSTRATE THAT THEY HAVE UNRAVELED SOME OR ALL OF THE EVERYDAY ISSUES THAT THAT PARTICULAR INDUSTRY ENCOUNTERS,” —TOM SCARDA, CONSULTANT AND FRANCHISE COACH The business plan is the focus, Denegri adds, because the plan gives the entire company momentum: the franchisor, the individual franchisee and the entire franchise system. The way he sees it, too many franchisors are hyper-focused on getting units developed instead of looking holistically at how to align the franchisor and franchisee objectives. Jeff Sturgis, vice president of Franchise Development for Beverly, Massachusettes-based hair cut chain Fantastic Sam’s, is determined to run a better system than mom-and-pop salons. He does that with training programs. Since only 15 percent of Fantastic Sam’s 1,350 franchisees are licensed hair stylists, the owners aren’t cutting hair, they’re growing revenue—and they need stylists and managers to help the cause. “We offer owner training, manager training and stylist training and we have special curriculums designed for the needs of each group,” Sturgis explains. The stylist is at the core of success, so Fantastic Sam’s certiﬁes stylists in the latest methods, products and styles. Managers are trained in recruiting, scheduling and in-store sales. “By training our stylists with technical skills to perform the services that are in demand, we have a better chance of keeping our customers coming back,” Sturgis says. “The stylist is more likely to stay on board if their customers keep coming back. It’s goes full circle, so training is the key to success.” Developing well-planned strategies to support franchisees, like Fantastic Sam’s and Campero, is critical in today’s marketplace. With literally thousands of franchise opportunities to choose from, savvy franchisors are beeﬁng up their service offerings to stay technologically up to date on all fronts, according to Scarda. “The franchise company has to be able to declare and demonstrate to a potential buyer that they have unraveled some or all of the everyday issues that that particular industry encounters,” he says. “That is why a person pays a franchise fee—it’s tuition paid up front.” 57 October/November 2007

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Hispanic Enterprise - October/November 2007

Hispanic Enterprise - October/November 2007 Contents BIZBUZZ: Business Briefs Trendsetters BIZTECH: Personally Digital BizLife - Travel: The Mobile Meeting Motoring: Is What You Drive, Who You Are? Q&A - Fact Tank for the Hispanic Population Hispanic Commerce Cover Story: Tiles with Style Success & Motivation: Grammy Whammy Finance: Talking Code Event: Masterminds NCLR Report - Improving your Triple Bottom Line Politics & Government: Keep on Truckin' Managing: Avoiding an Identity Crisis Franchising: Beyond the Brand Finance & Investing - Talking Money Movers & Shakers Regional Report - Louisiana, Louisiana Chamber Focus - On the Island of Enchantment

Hispanic Enterprise - October/November 2007

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.