Franchise Operations

Scaling Operations and Training for both Franchisees and Employees is no easy task. Let us provide you with step-by-step Operations Consulting to create the ideal Operations Manuals, Training Curriculum, and integrate your operations seamlessly with the ideal Learning Management System (LMS) for your model and industry.

We provide newly-emerging franchisors with full support in the entire franchise development process.  We will collaborate with you every step of the way from Strategic Planning, Operations and Training,   Value Engineering and Automation, Legal and I.P., and Unit and Franchise-Level Marketing.

Keeping your franchise model’s Operating Methods and Training Guidelines has never been easier to perfect due to the emergence of brilliant software and cloud subscriptions such as Trainual, Tovuti, and a remarkable new assortment of high-functioning A.I. packages specific to about any given industry.  But before you build and perfect your chosen vendor/package for your LMS (Learning Management System) you must first create your Franchise Operations Manual to cover not just all of the fundamentals of running your particular franchise model at the unit-level, but also to cover literally every step of the franchisee training and compliance experience, from choosing a location in their territory or area of primary responsibility, figuring out insurance and other compliance requirements, and a full calendar of scheduled tasks and meeting requirements to accompany their required ongoing training regimen your model may require.  In other words, the franchise operations manual is the “bible” of the franchise company operation(s) as to how each location is formed, how it is managed and services delivered, and how to comply with all requirements.  All comprehensive training materials which will be used more frequently stem from the core source and creating a manual with a comprehensive table of contents (TOC) which  is not just an option, but a necessity to keep current for any franchise company.

One of the things to keep in mind when building your operations manual is the fact that the franchisee is NOT an employee of your company, nor are any of their employees or other laborers. The franchisee has a license to use your name, your brand, and your system of doing business, but the operations manual is NOT an employee manual.  However, it should cover all aspects of running your business, and that likely will include some templates and multiple checklists of items important to running said business and tending to their own employees.  Due to the vagaries of American politics, making sure mistakes are not made in representing the franchisor/franchisee relationship are hyper-critical these days, which is one more reason that having a professional Operations Consultant from FSI to build your operating manual is so critical, along with all of the usual unit-level challenges we need to address.

The Operations Manual is not “separate” for your UFDD (Uniform Franchise Disclosure Document), but is directly connected to your legal docs, and is an attachment to it.  The manuals themselves are not “given” to a franchisee, but rather are “on loan” from the franchisor to the franchisee and are at  all times to be under lock-and-key and not readily available to unauthorized parties.

The ideal method for creating the Operations Manual is the same which FSI uses to do all of the training materials your company requires.  An FSI Operations Consultant assigned to your development holds sessions with clients to map out all of the needs for their specific manual and table of contents.  Once that is sketched out, the Operation Consultant flies out to client for an operations visit, which depending on the model can be anywhere from a 2-day  to 5-day affair to gather all applicable operating data, meet with all required owners and managers relevant to the franchise, and observe and photograph any needed activity while gathering documents and files for this purpose.

Note:  Just like the other phases of your development, the Operations Manual is made to be first perfected, and then updated constantly as your business model and franchise model evolve, and simultaneous changes are needed.  The same is true for the training regimen, which FSI will build to order with a view to train any and all franchisees through their specific requirements, including in-house training at your company’s HQ, or on-site training as the new franchisee is opening in their territory.   The Operations and Training Regimen appropriate for each franchise model are both done in the Operations Phase and is the most intense and important work that FSI does for its clients.

Since many clients have perfectly wonderful existing training materials for their model, some assume that this means that putting together the franchise manual is not a big deal.  In some cases, this is true, but you will always need to build a franchise-ready manual regardless of your existing materials.  It will just be a lot easier if you have great starting materials.  Your Operations, Training Regimen, and Learning Management System need to be fully scale-able and cover every applicable legality for each and every territory that you franchise and develop.  This is why having a fully experienced trained professional manual writer is not enough….an experienced franchise operations consultant is the key to building a thorough and comprehensive manual and learning experience.

When your Ops Manual and Training Curriculum are fully developed and approved, the franchise model is well served by acquiring an online LMS or Learning Management System of the franchisor’s preference.  Not every model uses sophisticated onboarding, learning, and manual software, but most should. The amount of labor-savings combined with the noted expectations of the modern learning universe should inspire most brands to either a) buy and off-the-shelf LMS and customize  it to their franchise, or b) if a strong developer relationship exists, building a custom LMS or similar derivative specific to your company only.  A solid LMS will take the new franchisee through every step of any online training at a minimum, and is commonly used for ALL training, including most brick-and-mortar live training in-house. Checklists of daily activities and requirements can be managed smoothly and in the most efficient way by choosing and adapting the ideal LMS system for your operation.

Many FSI clients do their own LMS data entry with their own internal talent once FSI has completed the Ops and Training phase.  However, for smaller franchisors with less available people and time, FSI provides the data entry on an ala-carte basis as needed if desirable.  Once the foundation of Operations and Training has been perfected and defined, there is a lot of value in having your LMS either done internally (or) having your key managers participate closely as FSI build the LMS out, as the quality of the training depends on full familiarity with all curriculums, functions, and effective measures.

An Operations Manual and Training Curriculum highlights both the franchisor’s operation and methods, but also reflects the level of professionalism and excellence of the overall system.

Franchise Science’s manual writers are not just technical writers.  They are highly experienced Operations Consultants who have written (literally) hundreds of manuals and created hundreds more training regimens and curriculum for some of the nation’s most important franchise models in every category.

Excellence in this type of preparation starts with focused sessions to “tee-up” the ideal content expected but is immediately followed by an onsite visit requiring the full attention of  franchisor management for anywhere from 2 days to 5 days depending on the complexity of the model served.  No other consultancy in our industry puts more energy into all of the unit-level and franchise level operations for newly emerging franchisors.