Watch Out for those Bad Apples!

Back in the Day

Have I ever told you about my experience running around Western Canada when I was 21 years old? I was getting M&M Meat Shops franchises up and running and supporting franchisees as their field consultant to help them stay on track (i.e. motivated, compliant, and ultimately profitable.)
Well let me tell you, it was not a job for the faint of heart!

I was a young female, fresh out of university, and often dealing with 60-year-old men who had invested their life savings into the brand. These guys had high expectations of the support they were getting, having chosen to be in business ‘FOR themselves but not BY themselves’. And rightly so!

It was one thing to be working with a franchisee who was truly passionate about the brand, well capitalized, and aligned with the company culture. However, the scariest thing for me was when I had to deal with the “bad apples” who somehow had slipped through the cracks and into our system.

Bad Apples

By “bad apples”, I mean the ones who were always challenging the system, like not wanting to wear the company uniform, not carrying certain products even though they were mandatory, opening their stores late and closing their stores early.  These are the guys who should probably have gone and opened up their own ‘Bob’s Meat Shop’ so they could do whatever the heck they wanted.  In the end, these bad apples end up costing a franchise company thousands of dollars in legal costs, brand reputation, morale with other franchisees, and costs to refranchise the location.

So how can you prevent the bad apples from slipping through the cracks?  A lot of early franchisors tell me that when it comes down to it, they just trust their gut when making the selection process.  While our gut seems to be even wiser and more intuitive than our logical minds, there are practical and actionable steps we can take to ensure a prospective franchisee is going to be a fit for your brand.  And here it comes, so get ready!

Make sure you have a properly developed FRANCHISE RECRUITMENT PROCESS.

Your process should be customized for your brand and industry and should involve a series of tried and true steps that result in zero uncertainty about whether the candidate will be a winner for your brand.

If this ‘gets your wheels turning’, and you are serious about growing your business and kicking some serious butt, let’s assess your current Franchise Recruitment Process together and make sure that you are bringing only good, wait, AWESOME apples to your team.

Email me at angela@angelacote.com.

Until then, go be awesome!