Jeff Dudan shares three strategies for franchise success: follow the business plan and use your team's diversity instead of imposing old habits, keep pushing after launch and drop what doesn't work, and invest in local community through networking and charity to build referrals that outlast paid ads.
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Franchisees often ask me, they say, Jeff, because that's my name. Jeff. What are the three things that I can do to be successful in this business? Many franchisees, when I meet them and they've decided to join our family, they'll say, hey, I'm going to be the most successful franchisee in there. They're setting a goal, they're manifesting their own success, and oftentimes they do become that. But then they ultimately always come back to me and say, hey, what does it take to, to get up into the top 10%, top 20% of the network? So I'll share three things. Number one, follow the plan. There is a plan in every business, and a lot of times what franchise owners do is they take their previous experience and they try to mold the business model to fit that previous experience in a way that's okay, because if they're strong in sales or they're strong in operations or whatever their towering strength is, they need to lean into that. And then they need to find the diversity of people to fill these other roles around them. But ultimately they, if you're uncomfortable with something, either find somebody else to do that, because everything matters, everything has to be done. So you've got to follow the plan. No genius attacks for 12 months now. Ultimately, we get some of our best ideas from the franchisees, so we have open communication, open dialogue. We're always looking for continuous improvement. And a lot of the great ideas come from the great franchisees that you put in business and work with. And that's where they lean into their previous experience and say, hey, if this multibillion dollar company, we learned this, and I see how that applies to this business model. And we will always work with franchisees to understand what they think they can do to make their business better. And if it works for them, maybe it'll work for everybody. The second thing is you've got to keep the pressure up. First time entrepreneurs in particular, they put their head down. 90 days, 120 days, sometimes 180 days, they stand their business up, they get success going, and then they go Rachel Ray on you. They set it and forget it. And they think that the business is just going to continue. People, employees, market conditions, competition, you constantly have to keep fighting. One thing entrepreneurs learn is that as long as you're in the game, you need to be in the game because business is full contact. So don't just get your business up and think that it's going to run itself, because businesses generally don't do that. I haven't found one yet. Maybe vending machine businesses could do that, I don't know. But if you're providing a product or a service or if a retail location or your service business like we are at home front brands, you need to keep the pressure up and continue to ask yourself, what is my goal for next year and what do I need to do differently next year to achieve those goals? Take everything that you did to get to where you are, put it out on the curb, look at those things, take that under advisement and consideration, but only bring the things back in your building and back into the four walls of your business that are going to get you to your next goal. The third thing the franchise owners need to do is, is they need to invest in their community. Your community, with referrals and other companies that can refer business to you with great reviews and great reputation will help you in tough times. The economy is cyclical. It's sometimes there's abundance, sometimes there's scarcity. But the great business owners have invested the time in the community to build that incredible reputation so that when things get slow, they can call and say, hey, we need some work, we need a job, we need some leads. Let's help each other get through this difficult time. If you've relied completely on paid leads or Internet leads, those people have no loyalty to you. Yes, you need to compete in those areas and it's critically important to have excellence in customer acquisition because that's sometimes where you get to meet your customers. But there are other activities that you do as you're building your business in terms of participating in local charities, participating in your local B and I groups, participating in chamber events, basically wearing the clothes, wearing the brand, and all the the time being out in the community spreading the word for what your vision and your values are and how what you have will solve problems for other people. Those are the three things. If you can keep those in the front of your mind, you will have a great business the first year and beyond.
