Amidst all the details of seeking out and purchasing a franchise, some new military veterans becoming franchisees can forget the importance of Human Resources and their payroll.

Once you think about how important your staff is to the success of your business, though, it’s hard to forget.

Hiring the right people is integral

For starters, you need the right pieces in place to creative maximum efficiency. One small mistake every day can have a large impact on the success of the unit, so it’s crucial to hire the right people for your franchise from Day 1.

As a military veteran, look for the same traits in others that you’ll be managing your franchise with: leadership, respect, and the ability to follow processes. You can also use your excellent leadership skills to train your staff to work as efficiently as possible.

Make sure you appreciate your employees

Saying thank you can go a long way to boosting your bottom line. By showing your franchise you care, it will in turn want to work harder, stay longer, and even go the extra mile when serving customers or clients.

You can also perform regular performance evaluations to give your employees positive and constructive feedback, and reward them for making improvements along the way.

Be sure to outsource your payroll

In the military, multitasking under pressure was a regular occurrence and it’s no different in franchising. However, for some things, such as payroll, it’s better to outsource it so that you free up time to focus on what you do best: leading your business.

Besides this, there are also tight payroll regulations that need to be adhered to, so make sure you take care of your employees and franchise by hiring an experienced professional for this.

Build and grow relationships with franchisor staff

As part of your franchising agreement, you’ll be entitled to a number of services from your franchisor, including legal resources, HR management, and accounting managers.

Don’t wait until a crisis to build a rapport – touch base as soon as possible, and work towards building a supportive relationship so that you can benefit as much as possible when you really need it.

As a military veteran, you command the respect of a nation – but you’ll also command the respect of your staff through mutual respect and understanding.

And your increased business will thank you for it.

To learn more about entrepreneurship through franchising, attend our free monthly webinar, Franchise Ownership as a More Stable Career Path. The webinar is free, but you need to pre-register, which you can do online by clicking on the linked seminar title.

You may also register by calling 866-246-2884.

Time really is everything in business, and even more so for franchisees.

With your bottom-line success dependent on how much you ensure all operations follow your franchise’s tried-and-true formula, there is little room for error.

Don’t use a one-size-fits-all approach

While sticking to the process, be sure to custom tailor your management style around different employees. Each employee will react differently to various approaches to management, so be sure to use the right one that works best for their personality.

As well, while you might use one strategy when dealing with customers – say, friendly and accommodating – you will likely need to have a stricter, more business-focused relationships with your suppliers to ensure on-time delivery of product.

Keep lines of communication open

Unless you can teleport, you won’t be able to be everywhere at once – so you should hire, and keep, the best talent to ensure all operations are running smoothly.

To do so, ensure you keep positive lines of communication open between you and your employees, so that they feel comfortable enough to contact you regarding problems even before they arise.

Plan ahead and keep a documentation log

Optimizing your franchise as a new franchisee is crucial, and planning ahead is one of the best ways to do it. By pinpointing how things need to be conducted in advance, you and your employees won’t waste time scrambling for answers under pressure – instead, they’ll know an efficient way to take care of problems before they arise.

Along with a plan, document how your operational efficiency is progressing. Highlight both positives and negatives, and make suggestions for the future and incorporate them into your long-term plans.

Doing so will optimize your franchise even more – leading to greater success.

To learn more about entrepreneurship through franchising, attend our free monthly webinar, Franchise Ownership as a More Stable Career Path. The webinar is free, but you need to pre-register, which you can do online by clicking on the linked seminar title.

You may also register by calling 866-246-2884.

Before you invest in a franchise, make sure their brand brings in customers.

There’s nothing worse than investing in a company as a new franchisee, only to find out that the company you thought to be a sure-fire great investment was struggling to drive business through the doors.

In franchising, one of the greatest strengths is centralized marketing – pooling money from all franchise locations to leverage greater marketing power.

But before you sign your franchise agreement, keep an eye out for certain things. Here are 5 Ways to Spot Franchise Marketing Success:

1. It drives customers through the doors. The #1 question to ask a franchisor: Does your marketing bring customers to all regions? What are their strategies? Find out what ideas they have coming up, and track how recent marketing strategies have affected sales.

2. Franchisees’ ideas are incorporated. Great ideas often comes from great teams. That’s why some of the most successful franchises seek marketing input from their franchisees, to better strengthen their strategies. If a franchise has some sort of marketing bridge between franchisees and franchisors – such as an advisory group – it’s a good sign they take franchisees’ ideas seriously.

3. It allocates money effectively. From the marketing fund, money needs to be allocated into three key areas: (1) internal/external costs of administering ideas; (2) cost of producing marketing materials; and (3) advertisement costs. If a company is spending too much in one area than other, it’s a sign their marketing efforts aren’t being conducted effectively – which could have a major effect on sales.

4. Marketing plan and strategies are well documented. Marketing strategies with significant thought and effort put into them will be well documented. They’ll have drafts, ideas, and formalized presentations of them available. While a franchisor won’t hand everything over to a franchisee, they will likely give you the skin-and-bones of it to ensure you have a good understanding of the level of effort they put in.

5. Check with franchisees to see if marketing works. There really isn’t anyone better to ask than those benefitting (or not benefitting) from a franchise’s marketing. Find out if different marketing strategies have had an effect on sales, and whether they have any concerns.

To learn more about entrepreneurship through franchising, attend our free monthly webinar, Franchise Ownership as a More Stable Career Path. The webinar is free, but you need to pre-register, which you can do online by clicking on the linked seminar title.

You may also register by calling 866-246-2884.

People invest in franchises because they’re genuinely excited about the opportunity.

It’s a low-risk, more secure way to open a business and become a successful entrepreneur. For many people, the freedom of being their own boss, setting their schedule, and knowing their hard work affects their profits is enough reason to become a franchisee.

Before you commit to investing in a franchise, however, there are important financial questions to ask yourself before you begin. By doing do, you can help ensure you make the smartest and most well-informed decisions with your money and help set a course for success.

Here are 5 Must-Ask-Yourself Financial Questions Before Buying a Franchise:

1. How much total investment will a franchise require? On top of your franchise fees, there will also be the cost of legal fees, overhead costs, and a lease and/or mortgage if you’re operating a traditional brick-and-mortar franchise. Be sure to do your due diligence ahead of time and investigate these costs.

2. How much capital reserves will I need to cover losses? It takes time to develop a steady customer base. In case you’re not selling as much as you’d like at the beginning, be sure to have a reserve of cash to cover salaries and operating costs for a few months. A few months may seem long, but it’s always better to guess high and better manage your risk.

3. How much money will I need to cover my own living expenses? On top of money to cover your franchise at the beginning, you’ll also need to ensure you have enough money on hand for your own living expenses.

4. How long will it take your franchise to break even? For most businesses at the start, you’ll need to keep funneling money in before you make any. As part of your business plan, project when you’ll break even. Be conservative, and be sure to estimate and plan for the worst possible outcome rather than a best-case scenario.

5. What standard and alternative financing options are there? Bank loans and commercial leases are among the most common forms of financing for franchises. In terms of a loan, it will have to be secured through your personal collateral (such as a home equity) or through an SBA-backed loan. For alternative options, family and friends, online kickstarter campaigns, and retirement funds from IRA and 401Ks are also another common way to access funding for a franchise.

To learn more about entrepreneurship through franchising, attend our free monthly webinar, Franchise Ownership as a More Stable Career Path. The webinar is free, but you need to pre-register, which you can do online by clicking on the linked seminar title.

You may also register by calling 866-246-2884.

April Fools was over two weeks ago, but apparently it doesn’t matter for KFC.

This time, the joke is on America’s fried-chicken staple, which is actually selling drumstick corsages just in time for high school proms.

Teaming up with Nanz and Kraft, a Louisville florist company, KFC is offering finger-licking corsage-chicken hybrids, which feature a drumstick — yes, a drumstick — instead of the traditional floral decor, along with silk baby’s breath, green leaves, and a white ribbon.

Orders for the bizarre graduation accessory can be made almost anywhere. Once an order is placed, Nanz and Kraft will ship the corsage and a $5 voucher that will allow the purchaser redeem a fresh drumstick at any KFC location.

There were only 100 originally made, and he cost for one is $20. Additional shipping costs vary, of course, depending on the customer’s distance from Louisville, Kentucky.

“Word is spreading, and they’re going pretty fast,” said Angie Searcy, general manager of Nanz & Kraft, in an interview with USA Today, who added that they may consider making more than 100 if KFC wants to continue the offer.

“We are shipping them all over the place. The bulk of (orders) are from different cities and states, not actually Kentucky,” she added.

In the strange spirit of it all, co-owner of Nanz and Kraft, Eddit Kraft, said to Global News that, “We actually have a couple that’s getting married in Louisville that’s wondering about a wedding, and they want to incorporate their flower centrepieces with the KFC chicken buckets.”

“But we’ll see where it all goes. We might have to do boutonnieres next year or something like that,” he said.

To learn more about entrepreneurship through franchising, attend our free monthly webinar, Franchise Ownership as a More Stable Career Path. The webinar is free, but you need to pre-register, which you can do online by clicking on the linked seminar title.

You may also register by calling 866-246-2884.