{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Episode #9 - Franchising as a Partnership","description":"Timestamp: 0:00:41    Jim Richardson Introduction 0:03:15    Segment 1 - Get to know Jim Richardson 0:16:58    Bonus Segment: Franchising 101 0:40:00    Segment 2 - Franchising is a Partnership (Business\/Branding) 1:05:44    Segment 3 - Quick Draw Questions   Show Notes: Segment 1 \u2013 Get to know Jim Richardson Recorded on location at Jim Richardson\u2019s house in Parker, Texas \u2013 just a few miles away from the famous Southfork Ranch (Who shot JR?) Born in Rockwell, Iowa Jim\u2019s first real job was as a grocery man Studied chemistry and finance. Small town boy makes it big \u2013 Ford Motor Company, Pizza Hut, and Panda Express   Bonus Segment \u2013 Franchising 101 Franchising allows you to expand your concept by utilizing the resources of others. Money The franchisee pays his part of the investment capital that is necessary to expand in exchange for the majority of the revenue. People In many cases, people is a more constraining resource than money The franchisee will source the people that will make them and your brand successful Time A franchisee can duplicate you, working on his\/her side of the expansion investment as you continue to grow your business form the franchisor side. Connections In this conversation the term connections refers to real estate connections. A franchisee will have a closer tie to the local market in order to maximize potential from the real estate selection. This is particularly important with international franchising.   When is a good time in the lifecycle of a business to start franchising? How do I know it\u2019s time? When you attempt to franchise before you have all of your systems in place then you are asking a prospective franchisee to take bet on you when you have taken only a limited bet on yourself. Don\u2019t franchise until you have the answer to all of the questions: What has made me successful? Why is my concept successful? When you know what it is that made you successful, then you know what you need to impart to others to make them successful. Why do customers like you? Why do customers come back? Can I duplicate a customer experience?   Do I have what it takes to be a franchisor? What is your leadership style? Command and control versus collaborative You will be entering multiple long-term relationships. Are you ready to do your part in the relationship? Can you work well with others? Personality profile tests can help you determine your leadership style as well as evaluate how a new franchisee will fit into the system. Biggest myth in franchising: I don\u2019t franchise because I want to have total control of the business. Franchisees have more incentive to follow a system standard than an employee If you are a command and control style of manager, you can still franchise but you won\u2019t like it as much, and neither will your franchisees. Command and control franchisors will also miss out on many innovations that come from franchisees (e.g. paper cups at Starbucks, pan pizza, and the Big Mac) Most franchisee relationships last longer than the average marriage. To be successful in franchising a concept, you have to have both a business that is ready for franchising and a leadership team that is ready for franchising. What is your growth strategy? Fail to plan, plan to fail. Be able to pay equal attention to both company owned and franchise locations. Can you remove yourself from your business for 1-2 years and still have it operate efficiently? Do you have the infrastructure to franchise?   Segment 2 \u2013 Topic Segment Franchising as a Partnership Franchising is an extreme relationship and your franchisees will need your attention Franchising is a bilateral relationship where each party should be able to learn from each other. How to find the best franchisees: When you build a solid reputation, the people that you want will come to you. Just because a prospective franchisee has something that you want (access to prime real estate or lots of money) doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that they will be a good franchisee. Look deeper into a prospective franchisee before you decide to accept of decline them. It is not just about access to money. It is about character and integrity. You want franchisees with the following characteristics: Character Trustworthiness Have something to teach you Open to learn from you The relationship between franchisor and franchisee must me complimentary. If they knew and had everything that you know and have then why would they need you? If you knew and had everything that they know and have, why would you need them? If all you are looking for in franchisees are carbon copies, then don\u2019t franchise. You probably already have that in your corporate staff. After you have brought in franchisees that are unlike you, then don\u2019t forget that they are unlike you. Examples of how franchisees with complimentary management styles can benefit the organization: Price: Ted Swan in Lansing, Michigan \u2013 Introduced the coupon pricing model with pizza when nobody else was doing it. Ted had knowledge that corporate didn\u2019t have. Place: Dick Freeland in Ft Wayne, Indiana \u2013 Discovered a method of expansion that had his future customers paying for his expansion costs. Promotion: P\u2019zone by pizza hut \u2013 The campaign failed because the word P\u2019zone was dangerously close to the Spanish word for nipple. The franchisees in Latin markets knew this \u2013 corporate didn\u2019t. Product: Many product innovations have come from franchisees versus corporate. Purpose: The purpose of a franchisees business may or may not be complimentary to yours. This refers to the questions, \u201cWhy did they decide to become a franchisee?\u201d Accept the differences. Just because differences exist between franchisor and franchisee, this doesn\u2019t make you unequal. Demand that your relationship with franchisees be one of equality. Franchising is where servant leadership thrives. Success in franchising takes more preparation than success in your own business. Inspect your success. What is it that made you successful? Spend time reflecting instead of projecting forward. Determine how you are going to transfer your knowledge to franchisees? Franchising is all about knowledge management. Know what you know. \u201cIf HP only knew what HP knows.\u201d Put metrics in place that measure the activities that lead to your success. Know your benchmarks so that you can document them into a \u201cplaybook\u201d that the franchisees can use to replicate your success.   Segment 3: Quick Draw Jim\u2019s favorite book \u2013 The Hobbit Jim would love to travel back in time to see Leif Ericson \u2013 he is fascinated with archeology Whataburger versus In & Out \u2013 WHATABURGER WINS!!!!!! Take that Mike! Favorite movies: The Matrix and The Jason Bourne series. iPhone all the way \u2013 Yahoo Sports is his most used app Texas Rangers Minisota Vikings Iowa Hawkeyes Dallas Maverics Texas Longhorns If Jim had $1 billion, he would give it to his wife. Go figure.   Jim Richardson Contact Information e-mail:  richardson411@icloud.com cell:      214-551-1514   Kit Vinson\u2019s Contact Information e-mail:       kit.vinson@franman.net Phone:       214-736-3939 x1 Website:    www.franman.net   Listener Highlight Angela Cote Angela Cote Consulting Inc. Business growth and franchise specialist Victoria, British Columbia, Canada www.angelacote.com   Books Mentioned in the Episode: Pour Your Heart Into It \u2013 Howard Schultz The E-Myth \u2013 Michael Gerber Can\u2019t buy me Like \u2013 Bob Garfield   ","author_name":"The Franchise Manual Podcast","author_url":"http:\/\/franman.net\/blog\/","html":"