(FS7) Training Yourself Before You Open Your Franchise

Any good franchisor will insist on training their franchisees prior to them opening. They will want to teach the franchisees any tools of the trade that they know to make their business successful because a successful franchisee means a successful franchisor. All franchisors will have different training programs, many use officers of some kind, some will use hands-on experience under other franchisees, and some will use a combination of the two (among other methods).

You might find the idea of the ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ way to train a little funny, but there is such a thing. Online training is hardly sufficient in most cases. If you’ve ever worked a job where they sat you down for online training and then went to do the job after, you realized that you learned nothing about your actual duties or how your days work. There’s also almost never people available if a new employee has questions during an online training session. When you’re training and onboarding your staff, try to avoid making it all online or computer-based training as that is probably the worst kind of training someone can get.

 

Good Training in Your Franchise

During your initial phase, expect to learn a lot through training. Expect your brain to feel a bit overloaded, but like it’s processing because you will be going through so much material leading up to opening. Here are some things you can look forward to learning through good initial training:

 

  • Brand positioning (the brand look and feel that the public perceives)multi unit franchises
  • Cleaning and maintenance
  • Communications (internal and external)
  • Financial management and business plan development
  • Food safety and storage (if it pertains to the franchise)
  • Labor management, (recruitment, supervision, motivation)
  • Leadership and business management
  • Merchandising and pricing methods
  • Point-of-Sale (POS) system and cash handling procedures
  • Problem solving
  • Safety and security
  • Site selection, construction, landscaping, and store design
  • Standards and operating procedures
  • Technical operations on products and services
  • Techniques for training staff
  • The management information system (MIS: computer system used by company, payroll, accounting, etc.)
  • Tips for understanding customers and customer experience
  • Vendor relations, purchasing, receiving, stocking, and inventory management

 

Good training should install the franchise’s philosophies and ideas into the mind of the franchisee. It also gives the franchisee everything they need to feel confident opening their own franchise successfully while giving them information on support if they need help with an emergency.

 

Training to Expect Immediately

When you first sign the franchise agreement, most franchisor’s like to get training started immediately. You can expect:

 

  • Initial training to assist in selection and development of sitefranchise training
  • Training for you and your management staff
  • Continual training as you introduce new members to the staff
  • Replacement staff training for when an employee leaves

 

The duration of the training will vary from franchise to franchise. Some will offer only days of training while others may offer hands-on training up until opening week. The FDD should contain information regarding the kind of training you’ll be receiving and how long it will last. If you don’t feel comfortable with the training, you can talk to your franchisor before signing the franchise agreement. Make sure you feel confident with the training and that you’ll be able to sufficiently run your business after the training has ended.

 

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