How to excel as a hands-off franchisee
For many people, running their own business means managing a team of employees who carry out the day-to-day work of the business. Instead of being ‘hands-on’, they are a ‘hands-off’ business owner. This can also be true for franchisees. There are several benefits to taking a back seat from the everyday running of your franchise, including that you have more time to grow the business and work on making it more profitable. Not carrying out the frontline work of your franchise also allows you to be more objective when choosing a franchise opportunity. You do not need to be experienced in the work to be carried out. For example, if you wish to start a care franchise you can hire experienced and well-trained carers to do the hands-on work, while you focus on the running of the business. However, this one-step-removed approach to running your business has its drawbacks too. You may feel like you miss out on important information, or fail to spot problems in the operations of the business. In this article, we set out how to make the most of being a hands-off franchisor and the benefits you can reap as a result.
Also essential: 5 Common Franchising Myths
Set clear goals and communicate them to everyone in the business
While you may have big plans and ambitions for how you plan to scale and grow, you need to make sure everyone who works in your franchise understands their part to play. You may also want to give your employees, particularly managers, the opportunity to voice their opinions and have their say in shaping the future of the business.
Take extra care when hiring employees
The better and more dedicated your employees are, the more comfortable you will feel leaving them to it. Andrew A. Caffey, a lawyer and franchise expert describes how hiring correctly could dictate how hands-off you could be:
“That may depend entirely on the trust you have in the people managing your business on a daily basis. If you have great people in place who are experienced managers, that may free you up a bit more.” (Source)
Ensure you have a system for monitoring performance
Where you are not always present in the workplace, you will need to ensure you have a system that supports this lack of supervision. You may introduce targets and measuring how well employees perform. This system will allow you to provide employees with feedback, set clear, achievable goals and set your workforce up for success.
Provide positive feedback and rewards
One of the challenges of running a franchise where you are hands-off, is that your employees may feel like you fail to notice the hard work they are putting in. You can offset this by providing them with positive feedback and rewards. Where employees feel as if you value their contribution to your business, they are likely to perform better and stay with your business longer. Acknowledge the achievements of the people in your business and reward them.
Provide excellent training
If you are a hands-off manager, it can be easy to overlook continually developing your team members through training. However, many employees – particularly those who will be the biggest asset to you business – see training as an important part of their job and career development. You should too. Furthermore, when you provide excellent training, you are able to give your employees more responsibility, and delegate more tasks to them
Keep an eye out for issues
Although you might be a hands-off manager, it is essential to know when to step in to handle any matters that may be causing difficulty in your business. For example, there may be work culture issues that are affecting how happy your employees are in the workplace, or a problem with lateness and absenteeism. You may simply also need to challenge workers who are not pulling their weight, or do not fit with the ethos of the business. This can be difficult, as when you are removed from the everyday running of the place, you may feel like you are stepping on some toes by doing so. But, at the end of the day, it is your role to ensure the business runs smoothly, efficiently and profitably.
Ready to become a hands-off franchisee?
As a hands-off franchisee, you have many business opportunities available to you, whether you want to start a pet franchise, care franchise, computer franchise, white collar franchise or a van-based business, we guarantee you will find a franchise opportunity that suits your management style.
