Franchise owners toiling in the operations of their businesses daily are highly susceptible to tunnel vision. Tunnel vision leads to slower-than-expected business growth or worse. The COO of a well-known franchisor recently told me the two biggest challenges facing franchisees are:
- Lack of professional managerial experience or training and,
- Embracing the value of a strong culture.
Both of these challenges are direct results of a leader with tunnel vision.
3 major signs a franchise owner may suffer from tunnel vision:
- You spend more than 50% of your time on daily operational tasks even once you have assembled a team. Maybe you insist on doing the accounting or receiving inventory or fielding customer issues. Whatever the daily task, your time to develop and grow your business is lessened.
- A franchise owner with tunnel vision has multiple days each month operating in survival mode to make it to the next day. Depending on the franchise, deliveries must be made, fries must be fried and offices must be cleaned. The job must get done and it’s your business. What is your business losing in the process?
- Your business is growing slower than initial expectations even after 5-10+ years. It can’t grow when the owner isn’t sowing business development activities for their company to reap later. You end up discouraged because you’ve worked so hard with less-than-anticipated gains. Corporate is frustrated because your business is lagging compared with their other franchisees.
3+ habits to help you avoid tunnel vision and lead your company to success:
- Set aside a certain amount of time each day, an hour or more, NOT to be disturbed. It takes discipline but when you develop this habit, new ideas emerge. Use this time to:
- Read a business development or marketing or management book.
- Plan and write your next blog or work on a seminar or write a book.
- Review key indicators. You need to know your revenue and cost drivers and what affects them. Ask “How are these indicators valuable?” and “What other information is relevant?”
- Decide how to recruit and retain outstanding employees. In my case, they are the weekly face of the company. More than half of my team was with me 16+ years.
- Focus on any business strategy to separate your company from competitors.
The key is block out a small part of your day to strategically drive your business forward and not just survive the day and rely on rear-view mirror financials.
- Hire quality team members and talk with them regularly. An employee who regularly calls in “sick” hours before their shift completely changes your day as a small company. Hiring is part skill, part art and part dumb luck. A successful franchise owner hires and retains quality team members just like they seek out quality clients. This is especially true for key positions in a small company. Hire right. Nothing slows business growth more than constant turnover at the sales position.
- Meet with your customers regularly. Start small. Set aside time each month to meet with a customer and ask high-level questions about their experience with your company:
- What 3 things does our company do well on a regular basis?
- What can we do to add value to your day or reduce time requirements?
- What 5 things cause you frustration with my company?
- In an ideal world, what would our services look like to you?
- How can we change our delivery to increase your efficiency?
- What else?
- Seek help outside of the corporate franchisor. The franchisor insures operations uniformity, overall customer satisfaction and past financials. None of this analysis is forward focused. Most franchisors do not train business development outside of sales techniques. Your business needs more to be successful:
- Grow your network and alliances. This can lead to referrals or undiscovered markets. Take on a leadership role at the Chamber of Commerce, join franchisee associations such as the American Association of Franchisees and Dealerships, etc.
- Budget for training and find an executive coach. They have the unique ability to assess your leadership and business objectively and from a different perspective than you and the franchisor.
It is easy for any franchisee to get caught up in the day-to-day tasks and it’s also the quickest way to bring the growth of your company to a grinding halt. This is your business. You owe it to yourself to be a GREAT franchise owner.
