Franchise System Manuals Worth Their Weight?

The excellence of a franchisor will be reflected in their system manuals. When you become a franchisee you are keen to get your hands on the accumulated knowledge and experience of the franchisor, their insight, their proven profitability, and their mistake-avoidance. Before signing the franchise agreement, the franchisor should make available the operational manuals. So, how can you gauge if the manuals are any good?

Here are some things to look for: There should be evidence that manuals provide for updates to processes and procedures. There should be separate books, or at least separate sections, on the major functions of your business:

• Pre-opening Manual – Demographic analysis, site selection, etc
• Operations Manual – The franchisor’s vision for the business, your duties, your employees\’ functions, legal considerations, cash handling systems, accounting systems, and operational trade secrets, advice on sales, and working with customers
• Human Resources Manual – Job descriptions, recruitment and interviewing procedures, and legal guidance on managing employees
• Employee Training Manual – The day-to-day activities for each job
• Employee Human Resources Manual – Policies and benefits for your new employees
• Marketing/Advertising Manual – How to find customers and keep them
• Digital Impact
• Franchisors can easily set up an extranet featuring interactive online tutorials. These provide on the job training and support for upskilling. Putting advance information about updates in electronic format is a favoured supplement to hard-copy documents and also provides franchisees with 24/7 access to current information – very convenient where a computer is within easier reach than bookshelves.

That\’s what franchising is all about – trading information on the best way to do things.

And remember – Manuals are only as good as the people updating them! And updates are only as good as the people receiving them!

All Franchisors should have Franchise System Manuals

In our experience it is imperative that any franchise system has a comprehensive manual set. Manuals have three distinct purposes:

1. As a sales document the excellence of your manuals reflect your business and directly impact on its appeal to intending franchisees
2. As the touchstone for all training
3. The clarity and completeness of manuals have a powerful influence over franchisees in their compliance with your proven business procedures, and will be referred to should a disagreement situation escalate

About the Franchising Best Practice 500 Series

This is part of a series of franchising best practices. Franchize Consultants is sharing and publishing these best practices weekly for the betterment of franchising.

The team at Franchize Consultants know that better knowledge and execution of franchising best practices leads to bigger and more valuable franchisor and franchisee businesses.

We have assembled the first 40 best practices into The Best Practice Handbook, which is available for purchase here.

How can we help you?

Contact us if you’re contemplating franchising your business or would like help with an established franchise network. We’d be very happy to sit down with you to understand your situation and objectives and explain the supporting services we provide. For more information on each, contact Adrienne (office@franchize.co.nz or 09 523 3858). Follow us on Facebook, Google and LinkedIn.