It is often said in the franchising industry that allowing franchisees which are too entrepreneurial into your system is a mistake. If you aren’t in the franchise industry, you probably haven’t ever heard about this, and you are saying; “huh?” But perhaps I should explain it to you. You see, franchisors have a specific business model, and each franchisee that joins the system is to run their business model exactly in that specific way.
As a former franchisor founder, I can tell you that in the many years of developing our business model, I had built all the mistakes out of the company, and continually refined it until it was good enough to franchise. If a new franchisee comes in and doesn’t want to follow the program, or acts like a rogue franchisee trying to modify and change the system here and there, they are liable to go back and make all the mistakes that the business model had built out of the program. Therefore it makes more sense to only allow franchisees that will follow the system exactly, without deviation, into the system.
Okay so, now that I’ve explained why this is important, let me explain why it is also a double edge sword. You see, in the marketplace you need innovation, and when customers ask for certain things, you need to oblige. If a franchisee is following the system, they are liable to tell a customer; “I am sorry, our policy is to do it this way.” And if all of your franchisees say that, and there is a trend in need, desire, or wants from customers out there, eventually you will have to acquiesce, and your entire franchise system will have to change.
Of course change comes very hard if no one within your organization is entrepreneurial. Now then, those entrepreneurial franchisees who have somehow worked their way into your system, are going to be hard to please, because they want to do things their way instead of your way. I would submit to you as a franchisor founder you need to take your most entrepreneurial franchisees, who will also be the most outspoken, challenging your system at every turn, and often becoming a pain in your rear end – and you should put those franchisees on your speed dial.
You should listen to their innovative thoughts, their observations, and consider their comments. Believe me this input will be very valuable and worth your time. That’s what I always did, and it always helped our company stay on the leading edge of innovation in our industries. Please consider all this and think on it.