SME to Franchising is a good opportunity

By B. Boyd

In the business industry, there are realms or types of relationships that are considered beneficial and crucial to maintain. You have the investor-investor relations, in which stocks and rights of a business are shared between individuals. You also have the very common seller-buyer relations or the connection business owners develop with their potential and existing clients. With the fast development of franchising, there is now a new realm of business relationship that is considered just as important. This is the franchisor-franchisee relationship.
Franchising has evidently and steadily risen to good fame over the past years. Most business experts agree that such is because there is a lot of promises that franchising commits to. People would be able to experience how to run their own business even without conceptualizing and actually building one. This must very well explain how there is an increase in the number of franchisees every year. Therefore, the number of franchisors has also increased. Thus, more importance is given in the quality of relationship that these franchisors develop not only with their direct market but also to their franchisees.
Work from home opportunities as well as other types of home-based franchising does not deviate from realizing the essence of a good franchisor-franchisee relationship. Everybody recognizes that developing a quality relationship with potential and existing franchisors would benefit them in that they will learn more about handling the franchise without fear of being mistreated. Franchisors on the other hand also know that having good relations with their franchisees would help them gain trust for each other.
Here are some tips then in maintaining a good franchisor-franchisee relationship:
1. Communicate.
Communication is the key to establishing a good working relationship with anyone from and within a company. When you know how to properly communicate what you want and need from the people who are involved in the company operations, you would be able to convey a lot of things. You can foster trust, acceptance, and even sincerity in communicating. This is why franchisors and franchisees should be particular in terms of communication. They have to be able to let each side know what they need and what can be given. This would help each party develop a stronger system because they have both agreed already on what they would be doing and on the materials they would be releasing.
2. Establish a work system and a culture that is agreeable for both parties.
Establishing and maintaining a good business relationship depends a lot on the culture that is dominant in the company. Franchisees always would consider the type of culture a company has before joining it. They want to become part of a company where camaraderie among other employees is prevalent, where they would feel at ease sharing what they know, and where they would be able to stay true to what they believe in. On the other hand, franchisors would consider if the potential franchisee would not have difficulty joining their ranks. This is important because franchisors and franchisees, both had agreements with the kind of culture they would run the company with, are essential in meeting the goals of the business.
3. Agree on having the same set of goals.
Probably the most certain way to develop the best possible business relationship between franchisors and franchisees is to have and work toward the same set of goals. Usually, the goals set by the franchisors are what the franchisees try to meet from their end. However, the situation does not easily get reversed in that franchisors are not always ready to move toward what franchisees aim for. But if there is a need to establish a good relationship, both macro- and micro-level goals must be agreed upon. This would not only bind both sides toward the same end together. It would also help them appreciate each others role in the continuum of the business.
Franchisors and franchisees are the most important players of work from home opportunities. The relationship is mutually beneficial in that they both would gain something from each other. But a deeper sense of the relationship can be established, which would help the business prosper more in terms of professionalism and personal attitudes at play.