Maintaining Unity in a Franchise System

Managing the Mindset of a Franchise Organization

Matt "Red" Boswell

Founder and Chief Executive Officer Pet Butler

Managing an organization's psyche is one of a franchise company's top jobs. Just like giving birth to a new baby adds tremendous responsibility to its parents, so does adding a new franchisee to one's company.

A franchise organization must continually monitor each franchisee's mental attitude and excitement level. A drop in a new franchisee's

When not achieving one's expected or desired results, it is human nature to place the blame on anyone but oneself. To keep this blame-casting to a minimum, a franchisor must:

* Lead by example. Hypocrisy and insincerity can be smelled a mile away. No one can argue with results.

* Train well, often and appropriately. If it doesn't add value, don't do it. Not honoring others' time creates resentment, bitterness and disrespect.

* Constantly hold each franchisee accountable to working his plan and meeting his time, effort and monetary commitments. Upholding the franchisor's standards and values should also be included in this accountability program.

* Clearly communicate expectations, opportunities, and the status of the organization's progress, and do it often.

In our company's case, Pet Butler accomplishes this through:

* Weekly "Talkin' Poop" national conference calls,

* Bi-weekly franchisee team calls,

* Doo Doo Board message board,

* "Zee Pantry" IntraNet and ExtraNet,

* Annual "Caca Convention,"

* E-mail updates,

* One-on-one periodic accountability discussions,

* Monthly Zee Advisory Council summits, and

* Periodic guest speakers, expert trainers and top-dog franchisee "what works" sessions.

As a thriving franchise business leader, one should seriously analyze the efforts in this area of organizational management. Is the franchise system proactively working to positively nurture its team's attitude? There are few things that can cause more problems for a franchise organization than negativity, distrust and loss of belief. One of the most important things a system can do for the organization is to faithfully focus on positively affecting the mental and emotional landscape of the company.