(Part 4 of the Multi-Unit Franchising Conference 2023)

This year's Multi-Unit Franchising Conference keynote was really inspiring. It was given by Nicole Malachowski, from American Airman, the first Thunderbird woman pilot, combat veteran, and fighter squadron commander, the first of her class. It was really amazing to hear her story and the lessons she has learned along the way. 

Although most of us won’t ever know what it takes to be a Thunderbird pilot, what she shared really resonates with what we do every day as leaders and business owners that are growing an organization. 

Hopefully, you’ll find this blog post very applicable to you and to the team that you work with. 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to review the rest of the 2023 Multi-Unit Franchising Conference series!

The secret: Pushing the envelope

To begin with, she explained how The American Airman is one of the most elite organizations and the pilots who enter have highly...

(Part 3 of the Multi-Unit Franchising Conference 2023)

As I’ve been doing in the past few weeks, in today's blog post I’ll review the insights of one of the Multi-Unit Franchising Conference 2023 sessions I participated in. Now it’s turn to discuss how to develop the next generation of leaders in your organization. 

• This topic is near and dear to my heart because I was able to have a career and improve myself in the franchise industry because of those opportunities. 

The franchise industry allows people to grow within the business structure thanks to the design of systems and processes. This model can also help them achieve the American dream of business ownership and success. 

The reality is that among the franchise enterprises, there are many superstar employees, just like I was, that are hungry to grow and succeed. These employees are looking for their next opportunity and it is up to you, as a franchisee, to offer...

 We are in business to make money. That’s why aspiring business owners decide to jump into the journey of entrepreneurship, franchise ownership, and business management. 

As we grow, we hire leaders to take over and manage our business, with unit managers to supervise our stores and, when we go multi-unit, we hire district managers to oversee the district so that we can have true time and financial freedom. 

Of course, we expect them to manage our business as we would, and also, their commitment and focus on maximizing profitability in every unit and district. But for them to be successful and fulfill your expectations, they need to have access to key information.

This leads to questions like:

• How much information should you give?
• What type of data do they require to produce the results you expect?
• What’s the best way to provide this so that they can make the best possible use of it?

Providing the information for the sake of it is not enough. There has...

Everyone wants to have great leaders in their organization. And the number one way to have them is if you as a business owner are a great leader yourself. 

• It's not easy being a great leader, especially these days. And while we are not all born natural leaders, I truly believe that leaders can be made, trained, and developed!

As a continuation of our last blog post, on this one, we’ll be covering the second six actions of an effective leader. We, at The American Franchise Academy, have identified these as the principles that no matter the time, the person, or the generation, are intrinsic to great leaders.

Don’t miss: 6 Actions That Make Great Leaders - Part 1

These are not just characteristics, but actions of a leader. This is what great leaders actually do. 

Look at these 12 actions and proactively and consciously exercise them every day in your interactions with your people. Through that practice, you will become a great leader!

7. Be Inclusive

...

What makes a great leader? There are many definitions to answer that question. Across the different leadership positions I’ve had, and the many CEOs and directors I’ve worked with in my +30 years of experience in the franchise industry, I have seen what a good leader looks like, what a bad one does, and the characteristics of great leaders

• Among the many definitions that there are, one is my all-time favorite, coming from John Quincy Adams. He says “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a great leader”. 

I love it because it tells us how being a great leader is about inspiring others to be a better version of themselves. Not only is it an honorable thing, but a great purpose in life. 

How can we inspire people? We can motivate them to improve themselves through our actions because people don't do what we say, they follow what we do. 

Here at The American Franchise Academy, we have defined...

Certain leadership positions are critical for the health, well-being, and success of your business. These are the unit manager, assistant manager, shift manager, and district manager.

Especially if you have a growing multi-unit organization, those positions will open from time to time. Where will you look for talent to fulfill them?

• If you want to increase the probability of success of the new leaders in those positions, you should take a look inside your team to detect who’s ready to take over those responsibilities so you can allow them to grow. 

There’s great value in doing internal promotions instead of looking for an external collaborator because, when you promote from within, you increase your possibilities of success. 

There are more reasons why:

1. You know these people and their work ethic, so their performance is more predictable. They have been with you long enough for you to experience who they are as employees. When you hire externally though,...

 Even though there is a staffing crisis in the country, some employers are doing okay or much better than others. Why? Because they have a great employer brand. 

• What is this? The employer brand is your reputation as an employer, and what your current and past employees think about you and your organization.

Your employer branding will determine how easy or difficult it is going to be to get the staff you need and retain great people. 

The good news is that there are ways you can increase it so that you can thrive in this staffing war that is happening in our industry. That’s what we’ll review in this blog post.

The Importance of the Employer Brand

People that are looking for a job tend to ask their friends about where they work. 

During a job interview, interviewers often ask about the candidate’s previous job, what they liked and dislike about working there, and why they leave. 

As a matter of fact, in almost every...

No matter the season, business owners should put themselves on alert mode to protect their businesses from robbery, especially during the holidays or the summer, when crime tends to go up. 

• The awful truth is that the vast majority of theft in your business will come from within. This means that either somebody on your staff is robbing you, or letting an external know how to best rob you. That is an absolute business statistic. 

Do you know how to protect your business and how to be ready if you discover a thief among your team members?

In this blog post, I’ll be sharing the rule of 10-80-10 of employee theft in the business industry and some recommendations to shield your operations throughout the year to prevent any losses. 

Follow the conversation on our social media and subscribe to our YouTube Channel to review our business video tips to help you with your day-to-day challenges.

Way back in the early 2000s, I spent time in the...

The secret to multi-unit franchisee success lies behind the systems that allow them to delegate operations with confidence and focus on leadership, strategy, and growth.

• There are four systems that these franchisees implement in their organizations to do exactly this. The best part is you can learn these strategies to be just like them!

First, let’s define what is a system. This refers to a set of processes and procedures that, when implemented well, produce a predictable and consistent result. 

This is why franchising is so effective! In this business model, the founder of a proven brand created systems around a well-positioned and desirable product or a service so that you, as a franchisee, could duplicate those processes and procedures with a high level of excellence, and then obtain the expected predictable results in your own business.

Do you Have the Right Franchise? 5 Clues to Find Out

Success systems defined by the franchisor

There are three types of...

A new year always comes with predictions and forecasts. In this blog post, we’ll review the things that may remain the same, what may change, and tips on how to tackle 2023 to make it the best possible year for you and your business! 

• In the previous post, we shared the good, the bad, and the lessons learned in 2022. But now I want to go over strategies to maximize the opportunities and win big in 2023. 

It all starts with facing the reality of what is happening in your business. That means knowing what's real, what's not real, and what you need to deal with because, unless you open your eyes and see what is there, you won’t be able to make it better.

Once you do that, you have to look at “the low-hanging fruit”, meaning, to detect what are the things you can do, that are under your control, to move the needle forward. Only then you’ll be able to win more than others.

That is something that the CEO of Domino’s Pizza taught me a long...