Winter and WORLD CUP 2018 woe
Dan Archer - Franchise Development Director, X-Press Legal Services - Director, BFA
It could be the empty feeling as the rest of the country gets snow and in the North West we don’t. It could be the disappointment of the unsuccessful World Cup 2018 bid but I find myself writing this without my usual joie de vivre. My inherent militant vigour has also deserted me and at the moment I would probably lose a debating competition with a “tuition fee” rioting student.
It is at times like this that I have the fortunate position that every franchisor occupies to fall back on. As a franchisor, at times of reduced enthusiasm and moments of questionable motivation, I have the luxury of turning to the boundless commitment of franchisees for inspiration.
Problems with snow? Not for the franchisees of X-Press Legal Services who have cleared driveways, braved the elements and risked hypothermia to keep their businesses running smoothly. Frustrated by the international politics and duplicity of the FIFA voting process, then take solace in the straight forward way that a franchisee wants to know, how can I do more, better and quicker.
I have suffered the rank apathy of large corporate businesses, occupied by thousands of employees who are happy to maintain the status quo. Franchising’s biggest benefit as a structured business format is that franchisees do challenge received wisdom and push the boundaries of proven methodologies, by doing so they improve systems and benefit businesses.
McDonalds’ biggest selling product world wide is the Big Mac, this item is a classic example of a franchisee pushing the boundaries and a franchisor having a system in place to trial, evaluate and incorporate the ideas that improve the system. Franchisors provide a structure and good franchisees provide skill, capital and enthusiasm which cannot be matched in either standalone SME’s or large corporates.
Many considering franchising for the first time miss the importance of a passion for the franchise business that they will be running. Money is important and return on investment is why you are doing it (in most cases) but the desire to throw off the duvet on even the most wintry of mornings is the ace in the hole of your business, something that we explore in a series of free educational seminars on franchising: www.franchise-seminars.biz
So as I return to a more positive place inspired by franchisees’ tales of triumph over meteorological adversity and mini victories at a local level over council bureaucracy what does it all mean? I suppose it means that franchising can beat the weather and enthusiasm can overturn most forms of politicking, but FIFA remains a lore unto itself.
Have fun (throws a snowball).
Dan Archer is Franchise Development Director for X-Press Legal Services and is a Board Member of the British Franchise Association. You can follow Dan on twitter by visiting www.twitter.com/therealdarcher
Tags: dan archer, franchisee, franchising, Self employment, small business, sme, starting a business
Not so Comprehensive Spending Review
Dan Archer - Franchise Development Director, X-Press Legal Services - Director, BFA
Much fuss and many hours of speculation and what has the comprehensive spending review delivered? The answer is not much detail. The headlines do contain big numbers on a scale that it is often difficult to quantify but the 106 page long published review document is still an overview rather than the detail of where the axe will fall.
I have struggled with the whole process if I am completely honest. I recognise that the Media want a certain slant on the impact of what has been variously described as “austerity”, “big society” and “the most scathing public sector cuts sine the 70’s”. I also understand that while BBC and SKY perpetuate the myth that 24hr news is feasible, there will always be a temptation to proffer poorly conceived arguments and half baked statements as fact, when they are really just opinion which is deliberately structured to promote debate and fill airtime. What I cannot really get my head round is the public sector NIMBYs who acknowledge the need for cuts but only really cuts in someone else’s budget.
Now I am not naïve enough to think that most of what Derek Simpson has said in relation to the cuts has been said for any other reason than to use the media to lobby for spending review temperance. I also see the nonsense over defence, the US and Afganistan for what it really is which is proof that the military are substantially better when it comes to influencing policy than UNITE are – sorry General Simpson. I do however question whether so many of those in public service that have said “cut but don’t cut here” are publicly focused or self concerned?
The reality is that the impact of the current financial situation is so far reaching that we will all be touched by change. Businesses have, our business and our franchisees took the bull by the horns in late 2008, most other private sector concerns have also focused on efficiency, scaled back staffing and forensically analysed spending. The problem for the public sector is that it doesn’t on the whole, deal with commercial realities so rather than doing the right thing to survive and thrive, it has to wait for a comprehensive spending review and mandatory changes.
Some want to blame the bankers for our current plight, which is a little like saying I abhor cock fighting and despite the evidence that others organise, train, run the book on and promote the fights it is the cocks that are to blame. So you decide, those that regulate the banks or the cocks themselves.
The basic political principle behind our current situation is that we have had 13 years of Labour government and Labour have traditionally believed in centralised, controlling, big government. It turns out that we couldn’t afford this during the boom times and we most definitely cannot afford it now. So we now face a political correction as we did in the early 80’s when the other end of the political spectrum will scale back the big government and deliver if we believe them the “Big Society”.
My fear is that despite the 51% cut to the CLG Communities budget and the 27% to the CLG Local Government budget (2 areas that our business is particularly interested in) the stated political principles will still not be realised. Government has always grown consistently and will probably continue to do so. 490k jobs may be cut and they will most likely replaced by subcontracted public sector employees not directly employed but not the smaller government that has been discussed.
As a franchise business we run a very tight ship, the investment, effort and application of our franchisees has ensured that throughout the downturn we have continued to grow our business. Could the public sector learn from what we do? – yes. Will it while the commercial advice that politicians take comes from the likes of Phillip Green? – no. Mr Osborne and Mr Cameron would do well to junk the rhetoric and if they really want to know about efficiency look to the franchise industry. The door to my hippy commune is always open gents.
Dan Archer is Franchise Development Director for X-Press Legal Services and is a Board Member of the British Franchise Association. You can follow Dan on twitter by visiting www.twitter.com/therealdarcher
Franchisors, Cars and Football Stars
Dan Archer - Franchise Development Director, X-Press Legal Services - Director, BFA
We are now 2 weeks into the new premiership season and if the pundits are to be believed we have already seen contenders for the goal of the season, watched the game of the season and the Premier League is the best league in the world. Whilst the use of clichés by football pundits is probably nothing more than an indication that although talented with a ball at their feet many of them spent little time with a book in their hands, there is a darker trend to all this hyperbolic nonsense.
If Jamie Redknapp genuinely believed that watching Arsenal vs Liverpool (which was barely an average game of football) warranted the use of the phrase “that’s what makes the Premier League the best in the world” then I pity him because he is as deluded as a pundit as he was ill-advised to take the Thomas Cook advert gig.
You see we have not yet seen the goal of the season, nor the game of the season and if the Premier League is superior in any way at all in comparison to other national leagues it is in the amount of hype with which it is festooned. Fostering the myth that it is otherwise may help Sky Sports to sell subscriptions and enable Premier League clubs to justify horrendous entry prices but it also creates a very real problem.
The promise of the hyperboly is not delivered by the national team in World and European tournaments. The supposed superiority of our league sides has also not led to dominance on the European club stage which is anything more than our fair share. The expectation though has been raised to a point where some fans genuinely believe that we are the best in the world. The problem then comes when we do not triumph and we all experience that sickening, gut wrenching, heart-stopping disappointment of an early exit at the hands of technically better players.
In the motor industry too this gap between the expectation built by a brand and the experience delivered by that brand is something that you ignore at your peril. Many thousands of words across dozens of dissertations must have been written about Skoda’s death and subsequent rebirth. I would prefer to focus on the less told story of the negative impact of the early iterations of the second generation Mercedes C Class.
It could be argued that the average Skoda purchaser didn’t have huge expectations from the brand, even before Jasper Carrot set about destroying them. Mercedes buyers however, are always brand loyal and come to the party with an expectation of true excellence that only comes from years of positive brand reinforcement. Imagine if you can then the brand disappointment which those loyal followers faced then when they first met the W203 model in the year 2000. Build quality questions, wallowing suspension and rattling dashboards are not what Mercedes buyers expected and as a result they were disappointed. Mercedes of course stopped the rot and the brand started much higher so the damage was not fatal, there are some however who would still argue that it is not what it was.
In franchising the dangers of over promising and under delivering are not just ones of brand disappointment, they are an area where the franchisor that over promises can find themselves in court at the hands of a misrepresentation case. Franchisors should be passionate about their business and should address a prospective franchisee’s caution in entering self employment by encouraging enthusiasm in the prospect. If however they go too far and gild the lily, overstating franchisee performance, promising support which is never delivered they risk a disappointed franchisee with a real grounds for claiming that this was not the car or Premier League match that they were sold.
Beyond actual misrepresentation the franchise industry has also been infected by the demon hyperbole. I have never really understood the desire of some franchisors to declare themselves the fastest growing franchisor or state proudly that they have added 50 new franchisees this year. If I was considering organisations such as this I would want to know whether it was sustainable and if they have grown so quickly how they plan to support all of those new franchisees.
I have always preferred to err on the side of caution and paint the darkest picture possible for a prospective franchisee. I believe that if they are still interested after I have placed these hurdles in their way, they may go some way towards having the right stuff.
So where does that leave us, well Monday the 23rd August saw the much promoted launch of Sky Sports News HD which we are told, was just what we were waiting for and which, we are led to believe will revolutionise the provision of completely unnecessary sports related trivia and conjecture. I don’t think the football world will change anytime soon and could suggest for devilment that HD actually stands for Hyped to Death but franchisors should take note and temper their enthusiasm if they want to avoid being sick as a parrot in the game of two halves that is the franchise industry.
