Turn that dusty doorstop (back) into a valuable resource!

A good manual helps a franchisee as an invaluable reference tool in daily use, backs up a franchisor’s standards and supports the franchise agreement.

Naturally, most manuals are written just before the initial launch of a new franchise (sometimes even before a pilot franchisee has tested the concept), which means they quickly become defunct and can’t fulfil the above roles – unless they are constantly reviewed and updated.

If your manual has not changed since you started your franchise and any of the following questions worry you – then you need to pick it up (find something else to keep the door ajar!) and review it!

• Are your franchisees reading it?
• Could your manual be reformatted or put online to make it more accessible?
• Has your franchise agreement or any franchising law and precedent changed since your wrote it? (If you haven’t had a review in the last year, then the answer is ‘yes’!)
• Does your Franchise Agreement reflect your current manual?
• Are you delivering more or less than your manual promises to your franchisees?
• Have any of your modus operandi changed or been enhanced in the years since you first wrote how the business works?
• Does your manual even contain the nitty-gritty of daily operations?
• Has any management, ownership or supply changed in the business?
• Have network priorities, culture, size or vision changed?
• Have marketing, referrers or national contracts changed or been introduced since the manual was written?
• Have you included new systems and responses to emerging issues with franchisees in your manual?
• Does your manual back up your current training?
• Does your manual reflect changing competition, changing markets and shifts in the economy?
• Does your manual cover ‘crisis management and marketing’, ‘train the trainer’, ‘reselling the business’, ‘franchise disputes’ and other topics that are often missed in a first draft?
• Are you at risk because any advice, policies or procedures in your manual do not match current laws and regulations in your industry, in Employment Law, in Tax and Corporate Law or in Health & Safety?

There are many more questions like those above that should prompt you to review your manual.

Often, a few small changes might save you many thousands of pounds in: wasted opportunity for your franchisees to do better; in support (had franchisees been able to refer to the manual instead of retraining them or using other support resources); in lost franchise sales because your manual doesn’t meet current expectations; and possibly even in litigation should your Franchise Agreement (and thus your manual) be tested in court.

It is thus important that franchisors establish a manual (and systems) review regime at least once a year.

Using experienced franchise consultants to do this is usually a good idea, as they can cast a more objective eye over the current ‘health’ of your systems and apply their experience with clients from many different industries to ensure that your manual matches current best practice and market expectations.

Manuals should thus be seen as an important living document – not just a boring part of the package that you must pass to franchisees when they join up – because if they are not useful to the franchisee and don’t protect a franchisor properly, then they may be little more than a very expensive doorstop.