advice training

Why is training so important and what should you be providing as the franchisor? Nigel Toplis explains

Training is a key component part of any franchise - in fact many franchise owners would state that along with marketing, training is one of the major reasons for coming into the franchise. 

Training plays many roles and should be used not simply at induction but throughout the lifetime of the franchise owner.

Firstly, training allows the franchisor to get into the mindset of the
franchisee and get them to think not as an employee, nor as a customer or as a manager but about becoming (in many cases for the first time) a business owner - understanding the complexities of running your own business - from how to administer the business to managing people to doing the accounts and VAT to developing a business strategy for building their own business.

This element of the training is critical as it is at the start of their new life. At ComputerXplorers we still send our new franchisees off to the US for two weeks' training - not necessarily because the technical training is any better than what we can provide in the UK, but because it very much marks the start of a new life. Sometimes it is the delivery of the message that can be as important (or even more important) that the message itself.

Secondly, training is the key process of imparting the basics of your system to the new franchisee. Training - especially the induction training - is probably the time when the new franchisee is most readily able and willing to take on board the processes, procedures and methodologies of the franchisor, so make sure induction training is comprehensive and relevant.

Thirdly, training should be ongoing and available for all the critical aspects of the business. Free training courses should always be available.

While all training is important, marketing plays a huge role in the business and consequently marketing training is particularly important. Training needs to cover the marketplace, marketing and sales processes, client development, PR, networking, gaining referrals, database management and developing marketing strategies for differential customer segments and so forth.

There should ideally be a high degree of centralised marketing activity on behalf of the franchise owner within the initial cost of the franchise to ensure the new franchisee actually does the relevant marketing activity - at least in their first one to two years!

Finally, training is about imparting knowledge, experience and best practice - it is also about honing skills and enabling the franchisee to maximise their skill base - but perhaps, most importantly training is about encouraging franchise owners to 'stay on the pitch' - not because they have to but because they see the value in doing so.