Doing Business

I've been asked by a new franchisee from my previous work, what is important in this kind of business? I answered, follow the franchise agreement, find good people, and know the area demographics.

If you are franchising, everything is already there --- standards, procedures, guidelines, operating system, trainings. If you franchised, it meant you believe in the system and the business. Never twist a standard to suit you; that's a capital offense in franchising. The business is proof that the standards work.

Why is demographics important? This study will tell you if your business is feasible in a certain area. How to do this? Gather data, random interviews, foot count. Know your potential customers. Know what tics and irks your customers. You are doing business because of them. Customers equal sales.

The other important thing and the hardest one is finding good people working for you. People who puts their heart in their work are loyal and dependable. People who will rally behind your back and you can depend on extreme situations. People who are committed to the business. People who you can trust to not betray you. One of pioneer franchisees in the company once said: "We can only sleep peacefully with 2 eyes closed if we have people we can trust."