By Keith A. Paul
Putting people before profit was one of my first lessons as an entrepreneur and has continued to be a guiding principle as we scale HandyPro. Our vision is to “create a remarkable experience,” which applies not only to customers but also employees.
Yet in the early years of HandyPro, we encountered a franchisee who didn’t align with this vision. Instead of following our standard operating procedures, designed to build relationships with employees and help them grow professionally and personally, the franchisee took an old-school approach. His attitude toward employees was, “I’m paying you, so do as I say.” No surprise, this resulted in a revolving door of craftspeople.
After working with the business owner for more than a year and trying to get him to conform to our values, we decided to end the relationship and part as friends. It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Just as with employees, you have to make sure a franchisee shares your vision and values. Otherwise, it will be a bad experience for both sides.
In response, we changed our approach to growing HandyPro franchises. A couple of key shifts include:
- More thoughtful onboarding — We began to bring on franchisees more slowly and involve more people in the decision-making process. For example, instead of only spending two or three hours with a potential franchisee, our interview process now spans two days — and we have to meet in-person. Before we even start discussing our business model, we ask questions like: What does it mean to you to be a leader? What does influence mean? What does taking care of your employees mean? This has definitely changed our selection process for the better. We are also faster to recognize when there are misalignments with a franchisee and end the relationship.
- Overcommunicate vision and values — I originally thought that explaining HandyPro’s vision once to employees and franchisees would be sufficient. Not true. You have to keep beating the drum so everyone understands why we do what we do. One way to continually communicate this is through public pats-on-the-back. When a customer shares a positive experience about one of our craftspeople, we announce it during company meetings. Similarly, we share success stories at franchisee webinars and conferences. We’ve found that continuously sharing success stories as they happen, which relate to our company’s five core values, helps them resonate with our employees, leadership, and franchisees. This also aids in future decision-making and builds our culture.
The franchisor-franchisee relationship needs to be a win-win on both sides, which can only happen if there is a good cultural fit. Just as we’ve learned that it’s better to hire employees for attitude over experience, it’s also true for franchisees. If core values differ from the get-go, the odds of changing them are slim.
What’s more, ensuring alignment with vision and values becomes magnified with franchisees, because when you work with a franchisee, you’re affecting all of the people they employ and their customers. Any disconnect will produce a domino effect.
Yet when people are aligned with the vision of serving others, magic happens. If your company is a great place to work and a great place to spend money, you have a recipe for success.