Franchisees will definitely involve many factors such as financial management, personnel management, market development, peer competition and so on. And each franchise store will be very different from the headquarters because of the differences in local customs, markets and competitive environment. Based on the continuous research and analysis, the British-Chinese Entrepreneurship Laboratory draws the conclusion that franchisees must absorb the business philosophy and operation mode of the headquarters as their own available methods and cultivate their own management ability if they want to stabilize their profits.
In other words, choosing to join requires not only a certain amount of money, but also a lot of time and energy. After all, shopping malls are like battlefields, and any mistake may lead to your wasted efforts.
First, at the initial stage of joining, we should pay attention to reasonable financing and reasonable investment.
Some franchisees run around and even borrow usury because they are eager to start a business and open a shop, in order to raise joining fees, security deposits, etc. Once the store is opened, although the business is still going well, I have no intention to devote myself to the business operation in order to raise money to pay off debts every day. Once the operator who should be the front-line leader leaves the front line because of the fund scheduling problem, other employees in the store will be affected immediately, so the service quality will gradually decline. And customers are also sensitive and will gradually stay away from the store. Of course, it is impossible to improve performance, and stores with good business will often close down.
Mr. Feng borrowed money from people everywhere in order to raise the initial fee and start-up fee. After successfully joining the store, the business is very prosperous. Seeing that it was profitable, a creditor offered to lend Mr. Feng 654.38 million yuan to participate in hotel management and profit distribution. If he doesn't agree, he will pay off the debt immediately. In order to raise money to pay off debts, Mr. Feng has no intention to invest in hotel management, and the service quality has gradually declined.
Therefore, the British-Chinese Entrepreneurship Laboratory believes that franchisees should do what they can and choose the franchise fee that suits their threshold. Otherwise, they will be heavily in debt and worried all day, which will have a great impact on the operation of the store.
At the same time, franchisees should determine the reasonable distribution ratio of the whole capital investment and make overall planning. Don't wait until you open the store to find that there is no money in the later operation of the store, then it will be a big joke.
Second, control operating costs and plan purchasing strategies.
Cost control is very important in business process. One less expense equals one more profit. It is absolutely necessary to control the cost in a lower range. However, excessive saving is also incorrect. For example, lighting effect is an indispensable condition for attracting customers in some commodity sales. If you turn off the spotlights in order to save electricity, you will definitely lose more than you gain.
At the same time, planning the purchasing strategy and adjusting the turnover rate are also effective ways to control the cost. Shops should try to avoid pressing goods. Many new bosses are often under severe financial pressure, and their capital operation is stretched, and they soon get into trouble. For seasonal unsalable goods, it is necessary to reduce the price and clear the warehouse in time, and fill the original vacancy with new goods. After all, only the goods sold are money.
Third, learn to manage employees.
Although after joining, the headquarters will conduct a series of employee management training for franchisees and provide corresponding support, but far water can't put out a near fire. Franchisees need to find problems from the source and really understand and learn how to manage employees. From many examples of entrepreneurs, the British-Chinese Entrepreneurship Lab found that many new bosses did not correctly understand this problem, and started from their usual thinking and acted according to their own temperament, so it is not surprising that internal employees broke the news.
"When I first came into contact with the franchise chain, I thought that as long as I joined successfully, I could enjoy it easily." Ms. Wu, who once joined a beauty chain, has this feeling. Ms. Wu believes that lying down and doing nothing, everything is managed by the headquarters. After the real opening, the problems of employees also followed. An employee of the company took advantage of his work to promote other beauty products to customers; In less than a week, several key employees of the company were poached by other beauty salons and took away dozens of regular customers. Ms. Wu re-recruited, and not long after, she found herself making a wedding dress for others.
Therefore, franchisees must realize that managing employees is their own business and must be done well. First of all, franchisees should fully understand their employees. As a manager, it is not easy to fully understand employees. But if managers can fully understand their employees, the work will be much smoother. Every employee has his own advantages and disadvantages in ability, personality, attitude, knowledge and cultivation. Some employees do things neatly, some are cautious, some are good at dealing with interpersonal relationships, and some like to work silently in statistical data. As the saying goes, "a scholar dies for a confidant", a manager who can fully understand his employees will be a first-class manager in terms of work efficiency and interpersonal relationship.
Secondly, we should communicate with employees more and listen to their voices. Employees always have their own dissatisfaction and opinions, although some are correct and some are incorrect. But if you don't vent and guide, there may be big problems. Therefore, managers need to communicate with employees frequently, consult their opinions and listen to their questions. Untie the knot of employees, the team will be more United and work enthusiasm will be higher.
At the same time, employees should be allowed to make mistakes and be praised for their good performance in real time. The real world is full of uncertainty. Under such circumstances, it is naturally impossible to succeed in everything. As a manager, if you ask your subordinates not to make any mistakes, it will inhibit the spirit of innovation and make them afraid to work. Of course, employees who make contributions should be rewarded and praised in time to boost morale.
Fourth, learn to manage customers and establish good customer relationships.
A grain of wheat has three fates: first, it is ground into flour and consumed by people to realize its own value; Second, as a seed, after sowing, it will bear new wheat grains and create new value; Third, due to poor storage, it is moldy and deteriorated, losing its value. In other words, if wheat is well managed, it will create value for mankind; Poor management will lose value and even bring negative value. The same is true for customers. If the franchise stores operate well, customers will become their loyal consumers. If the business is not good, it will lose a lot and affect other customers.
The UK-China Entrepreneurship Lab reminds franchisees to learn to manage customer files, retain old customers and tap new customers. Customer files, including basic information of customers, transaction status, credit ability, etc. , is an important information for franchisee management and tracking. Careful analysis of customers' files will reveal their respective preferences, vision and purchasing power, so as to recommend products and provide services for them more pertinently.
Developing a new customer is six times the cost of developing an old customer, so retaining old customers is the basis for franchise stores to survive. It is an effective way to provide after-sales service for customers and strengthen communication with customers. At the same time, franchisees can give back to old members in time through member preferential activities to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty.
In order to explore the market and tap new customers, franchisees can adopt a variety of business methods for marketing. For example, the joint operation method: joint ventures can be made with commercial organizations with the same customer base, such as cafes, cinemas and Internet cafes nearby. For example, if you buy a specified commodity, you may get a movie ticket.
Verb (abbreviation of verb) is coordinated with the headquarters.
The relationship between franchise stores and franchise headquarters is very subtle, as close as lips and teeth, and each has its own axis of interest. Therefore, there will inevitably be some conflicts between franchise stores and headquarters. Franchisees often complain about the bureaucracy of the headquarters, only know how to command blindly and lack understanding of the actual situation; Headquarters will also think that franchisees are self-centered, go their own way, and do not support or cooperate with the work of headquarters.
This is often because franchisees are more or less suspicious or contradictory to the company's policies, or at least wary. Therefore, franchisees should invest a lot of energy to investigate when choosing to join the headquarters; Once we succeed in joining, we should actively cooperate with the work of the headquarters with the mentality of "* * * creating a win-win situation".
The so-called "too much is not enough", suspicion, conflict and complete dependence are not the management methods of franchisees. The UK-China Entrepreneurship Lab reminds the entrepreneurs who have joined, because most parts of China are very regional, and the consumption levels and concepts of different cities and regions are very different, the successful headquarters joining business strategy elsewhere may not be suitable for local franchisees. Therefore, franchisees should actively communicate with the headquarters on the basis of listening to the opinions of the headquarters, timely transmit local information, and use the existing experience of the headquarters to explore business strategies suitable for local conditions.
Sixth, actively accumulate industry experience.
For franchisees, industry experience is Han Xin's point soldier, the more the better. The so-called interlacing is like a mountain, and the peers are different, which is caused by familiarity.
Industry experience is hard to get from one or several books, and many things can only be obtained by personal experience. Therefore, franchisees should pay attention everywhere and accumulate more. For example, to open a clothing brand franchise store, franchisees should read more popular magazines and participate in fashion activities to cultivate their own unique fashion concept and keen fashion sense. When every customer walks into the store, you can provide her with a unique look. Aren't you worried that the turnover of franchise stores will not increase by leaps and bounds?
To sum up, in order to join a company successfully, franchisees should work hard and learn to operate, so that their efforts can generate multiple returns and improve the chances of success and profit.
The success rate of franchise stores: we should examine the operating conditions of other franchisees in the same system. If a franchise system closes stores, it must be cautious; If there are many closed stores in a franchise system, whether it is the mistake of individual operation or other reasons, we should consider giving up. Because a mature franchise system needs long-term experience accumulation and continuous improvement of management system, there are not many cases of closing stores in normal operation.
Entry threshold for franchisees: if the entry threshold for franchisees is low, there is no requirement, as long as the franchise fee is paid, they can join the business. In this case, you must think twice before you act. In fact, it can basically be said that this is a famous business, and franchisees can hardly get any professional training and management, technology, personnel and financial support.
The management system of franchise stores: This is the most important issue for people in franchise stores. There are some people who are eager for quick success and instant benefit in the market at present. They are eager to expand and join the newly started projects. The purpose is not to establish and improve the franchise system, but to earn the franchise cost quickly, and then leave it alone, or they simply have no ability to manage. If a franchise system cannot provide very specific franchise planning, pre-job training and on-the-job retraining, perfect management system and backup mechanism, detailed and standardized business operation manual, stable and standardized supply system, such a franchise system should not be considered.
Direct contact with the head office: if you want to join a franchise store, you should contact the head office or the local general agent directly, and you can't sign any documents through a third party, otherwise you can't guarantee your due rights and treatment and pay unreasonable fees.
Whether the joining fee is reasonable: whether the joining fee is reasonable depends on the popularity of the joining enterprise and the soundness of the management system, and also depends on the conditions provided by the joining enterprise, including hardware and software support. The most important thing is to look at the return on investment and refer to the returns of other franchisees. If the return rate of the franchisees in this system meets their own requirements, then the franchise fee is basically reasonable. Usually, each franchise enterprise has its own franchise fee standard, which is generally non-negotiable.