Franchising your brand can allow you to scale rapidly alongside highly motivated business owners who have a vested interest in the success of their location. However, you first need to find these individuals.
There are over 4,000 franchise opportunities available in the U.S. currently.
“So, how do you become different in those 4,000 or one that is going to attract the right owners to you?” says Josh Malik, CEO of Joshua Tree Experts, headquartered in Stockertown, Pennsylvania.
In Joshua Tree’s case, Malik says their value proposition is that they offer tree care, lawn care and pest control. While other brands may only offer one or two of these services, they provide all three. However, he says this does make the business quite complex with the different procedures for each department.
Who Is a Good Franchisee?
Once you’ve developed your franchise’s brand and selling points, then you have to discern from those interested who is the best fit. Malik says they’ve denied several partners who have applied in the past.
“You got to think of it like a marriage,” Malik says. “It’s a 10-year term. Every time you sign an agreement, it’s for 10 years.”
Ken Hutcheson, board member and senior board advisor of U.S. Lawns, headquartered in Orlando, Florida, says they consider a candidate’s character, background and financials, as they need to have good credit to purchase multiple trucks.
“We do personal interviews,” Hutcheson says. “We do discovery days where they come visit us. We visit them to be sure there’s a bit of a fit in that way. Diversity creates a stellar team, and we have a very diverse group of franchisees.”
Lori Johnson, president of The Grounds Guys, a Neighborly company, headquartered in Waco, Texas, says they look for people who align with their values, demonstrate leadership ability, have strong financial means and discipline, and are committed to following a proven system.
Malik says a good franchise partner depends more on their personality than their specific background. He says they utilize the DISC profile to help identify strong candidates.
“The dominant, influential personalities, they’re the strongest,” Malik says. “They know how to lead teams. They know how to hold people accountable. They’re super aggressive in their market on how quickly they want to grow.”
Malik says these individuals are also good communicators and can make quick game-day decisions.
Mike Andes, founder of Augusta Lawn Care, headquartered in Bellingham, Washington, says he looks for someone who gives more than they take.
“Ultimately, a franchise is the best form of a community, because everyone’s wearing the same uniform,” Andes says. “It’s when everyone is wearing the same uniform on their team, and they’re fighting for a common cause. That’s like where real teams bind.”
Andes says they have a coaching program where they encourage their franchise owners to meet with one another and foster that community and coach one another.
You also don’t have to limit yourself to those who have industry experience. Malik says franchise partners without a background in landscaping or lawn care are far more likely to follow your system.
“They’re more likely to grasp it and say, ‘Well, this has worked in Pennsylvania for 20+ years of operational excellence,’” Malik says. “Why would I not follow this? That’s who we attract, and that’s who we want.”
Similarly, Hutcheson says U.S. Lawns will occasionally do conversions, but often it is tough to find someone qualified.
“While industry experience can be helpful and is preferred, it isn’t the determining factor,” Johnson says. “We often find that coachability, business acumen, relationship-building skills, and a commitment to serving customers are even more important.”
Addressing Problem Franchisees
Even after vetting a franchisee, there can be occasions where they stray from your set guidelines and practices. It’s important to monitor your franchises and hold them accountable.
Malik says they have dashboards where they and their franchise partners can see how many leads are converting to appointments, their closing ratios, and average job size. He says if they see a franchise partner doing something that isn’t in compliance, they will reach out and let them know.
“You can’t go off and use Jobber,” Malik says. “We use SingleOps. You have to use SingleOps. You have to use it for proposal management. You have to use it for your production. You have to use it for your reporting.”
Malik says they will have tough conversations with franchise partners if they are not following through as well.
“We have a standard of following up with clients within 24 hours,” Malik says. “You cannot have a client action that’s been sitting around for three days. You got to act on it.”
Andes says if customers are complaining, they hear about it immediately because all calls are directed to their command center. They will step in if there are issues with quality.
Hutcheson says they will first address any issue in a coaching manner, but they will take legal routes if necessary. He says enforcing compliance is about protecting the other franchisees.
Johnson agrees that there are times when intervention is necessary to protect customers, employees and the brand.
“Serious violations of brand standards, repeated operational or financial failures, legal or ethical concerns, or actions that negatively impact customers or the reputation of the brand can require corrective action,” Johnson says.
Johnson says their priority is always coaching, training, and support to help franchise owners succeed.
Removing a Franchisee
In some cases, you have to remove a franchisee. Making this decision isn’t a failure on your part.
“Anybody who’s been around franchising, and says they haven’t removed someone, they haven’t been in franchising,” Hutcheson says.
Numerous life events, such as divorces to deaths, can all play a part in needing to close a franchise location.
Andes says they provide plenty of warnings to problem franchises, but they have had to remove several owners who did not adhere to their standards. Oftentimes, this due to an owner going through a serious life event, but they can’t tolerate one location’s poor quality making the brand look bad as a whole.
“It’s almost always if they are going against the core values or they have low-quality service to customers,” Andes says. “If they are going against the core values and not treating other franchisees correctly, not treating their employees correctly, not treating their customers correctly, those are really the things that we have to then step in on.”
Malik says in one instance, they had a franchise partner who was non-compliant in so many areas, as despite working with the owner, it ended up being better to just close the operation.
“Protecting the integrity of the system is critical for all franchise owners and customers,” Johnson says.
