Gratitude is a positive emotion and a way of looking at the world that engenders a sense of well being. Studies have suggested that grateful people are happier, less stressed, and more satisfied with their lives and relationships. They are able to cope with difficulties in a more positive way, hence experience a sense of more control over their lives. So, what does all of this have to do with franchising? A lot!

Gratitude is a choice. We either choose to complain about what we have or don’t have or choose to see the beauty in what we do have and the blessings that come when something is not be present in our lives. It is in that choice that we find the control over our environment. We all have heard the adage that says: “we may not be able to control our circumstances, but we can control how we feel about and react to them.” So, what does all of this have to do with franchising? A lot!

Gratitude is a habit that we create by repeating our choice for the positive frequently. The more often we make this choice, the more ingrained this habit will be. So, what does all of this have to do with franchising? A lot!

If you are a franchisor, you can’t change the way franchisees behave, but you can certainly choose how you will react. Similarly, franchisees have no control over their franchisors’ actions, but they surely can choose whether or not they affect them negatively. It is all about what we choose to see. When either party is upset at the other they have the choice to remain dwelling in the negatives which only creates more discord, or choose to be grateful for the positives such as:

If you are the franchisee:

• The franchisor started a business, took the risk, and created systems.
• The franchisor shares his or her experience with me so I don’t have to make the same mistakes.
• The franchisor is thinking of ways for me to improve my bottom line.
• The franchisor has trained me and continues to train me.
• The franchisor invests in staff to support me.
• The franchisor spends a lot of money in R & D to ensure that my business has a future.

If you are the franchisor:

• Franchisees believed in my concept and in me.
• Franchisees trusted me and invested their life savings in my business idea.
• Franchisees paid me and continue to pay me money.
• Franchisees represent me every single day in their communities.
• Franchisees have stepped out of their comfort zone to implement my system.
• Franchisees share their ideas with me and they also help each other.

Did you hear a ‘but’ as you read the statements above? If so, you need a little bit of work on being truly grateful. Gratitude is all about shifting our perspective. It is not about denying the negative; it is about focusing on the positive that is always there, regardless of the situation or person. So, what does all of this have to do with franchising?

• Grateful franchisees are happier, better performers and validators.
• Grateful franchisors create a productive company culture.
• Gratefulness engenders good franchise relations.
• Gratefulness is contagious.
• Gratefulness produces a positive environment that invites communication.

Gratitude is not just for those ‘tree hugging’ folks, as some may say.  It is for all smart franchisors and franchisees who want success.

So, when was the last time you said ‘thank you’ to your franchisees or to your franchisor?

Related posts:

1. 3 Simple Ways to Create Strong Relationships with your Franchisees
2. 3 Things Your Franchisees Expect From You
3. Franchisees, Franchisors: Do You Need a Surety Bond?

Franchising isn’t an industry; it’s a community made up of many businesses in different industries choosing a common method of distribution for expansion.  As a community, franchising has its own terminology and thus new franchisees and franchisors have to learn the meaning of these terms in addition to the language of the particular industry of the business. Franchising vernacular can add to the confusion of those people considering joining the franchise community as franchisors, franchisees or even as suppliers.

To help newcomers I’ll share here the meaning of some of the most common terms and acronyms used in franchising. These are short definitions; later posts will take a few of these terms at a time and expand on them.

Zor(s) = Franchisor(s)

A Zor is the business that has chosen to expand via franchising; it means the franchisor; that is, the company that has created this unique opportunity. The word “franchisor” is sometimes spelled “franchiser” following the British spelling.

Zee(s) = Franchisee (s)

Zees are the people who choose to invest in a franchise to become business owners. They enter a business relationship with a franchising company that entitles them to use the intellectual property of the franchisor for the term of the agreement in exchange for their investment.

FDD

FDD is an acronym for Franchise Disclosure Document. It’s the legal document required by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) of every franchise company. Its objective is to provide potential franchisees with sufficient data about the company and the opportunity to enable them to make an informed decision. Each portion of the FDD that speaks to a different aspect of the opportunity is called an Item.

Most commonly discussed items are:

Item 5 = Initial Franchise Fee

Item 7 = Initial Investment

Item 12 = Territory

Item 19 = Earnings claims

UFOC (Uniform Franchise Offering Circular)

UFOC is an acronym for Uniform Franchise Offering Circular. It is simply the predecessor of the FDD and is no longer in use.

Franchise Agreement

The franchise agreement is the foundation document of the franchise relationship. It’s legally binding on both parties, and it describes the rights and obligations of franchisor and of the franchisee.

Territory

Territory is the area which franchisors assign to franchisees and within which they grant the right to franchisees to operate and market the business. Territories can be exclusive and non-exclusive.

Intellectual Property

In franchising intellectual property refers to the trademarks, trade dress, copyright, know-how, trade secrets, business concept, processes and methodologies, as well as, if relevant, designs and patents that franchisors license to franchisees through the franchise agreement.

Regional Developer

Regional Developers are franchisees who make a larger investment giving them greater rights and responsibilities over a particular region. A region generally refers to a state or multiple states; some larger states like for example, California, may be divided into two or more regions. In exchange for the larger investment Regional Developers normally share a percentage of the initial franchise fee and royalties generated from franchisees in their region.

Area Developer

Area Developers are also franchisees with agreements similar to those of Regional Developers but with smaller territories and sometimes lesser responsibility. The territory of Area Developers is limited to an area such as a city or a county instead of a region which normally implies an entire or multiple states.

Multi-Units Franchisees

As the name implies, Multi-Units Franchisees are franchisees who invest in more than one location. They can acquire the additional locations either initially or over time.

Master Franchisees

Master Franchisees have been replaced by Regional Developers in the US. This type of franchise is nowadays used solely when a company wants to expand overseas. A Master Franchisee takes on all of the responsibilities of the original franchisor in the country for which the rights have been acquired.

Franchise Operations Manual

The Franchise Operations Manual is an extension of the franchise agreement. It includes all the information a franchisee needs to operate the business according to the franchisor’s system.

—->>> Have you encountered a term that you don’t know? Share it with us and we’ll add it to this list…

Related posts:

1. Franchising – Federal (FDD) vs State Registrations
2. Are Your Franchisees Able to Absorb the Information They Need?
3. Franchising: what is it, really?

• Communicate often:

In this world of electronic communication where emails prevail, grabbing the phone at least every 6 weeks for no other reason than to communicate with your franchisees can be very powerful. The bigger the organization, the harder this program is to implement, however making this “reaching out”  activity a priority will make a big difference in your relationship with your franchisees and your internal organization. Make sure everyone in your company is involved in this activity. No one is that busy that they can’t make one or two calls a day. The idea is to keep these calls light. For example: “Hi Joe, this is Mary Ann from the mail room. I just wanted to say hi. We met when you were here at training and that’s been a long time. How are you doing?” It’s that simple. Let them know you care!

• Remember your franchisees’ birthdays:

Remembering a person’s birthday is also a way of letting them know that you care about them and that they’re important to you. Today, with electronic calendar reminders, this is so simple that there’s no reason why it can’t be done. Additionally, there’re many electronic cards services available at very little cost making it even easier for us to make franchisees’ special days a bit brighter. It’s important that the cards come from a senior level manager, preferably the CEO. An assistant can email the cards on behalf of the manager, BUT he or she should take the time to read the list of cards that go out every day. This simple step will make your franchisees feel more like people to you and less like numbers; and over time, it will strengthen your relationship with them.

• Celebrate their life successes:

Most franchisors are very good at celebrating the performance achievements of franchisees. This is positive, but it’s even better when you celebrate other wins as well. Your franchisees are people with lives that are rich and full, so celebrate their entire lives not just a portion of them. Congratulate them for the birth of a child, the graduation of their children, a marathon in which they participated. Anything that contributes to your franchisees’ happiness is reason to celebrate and to share with others.  This outlook requires open and constant communication with your franchisees and also among your staff so that this type of news gets to the person in your organization responsible for formal communications to get included in your electronic newsletters and other more formal media to share with the entire network.

Your thoughts? Please share other simple ideas franchisors can implement to strengthen franchisee relations.

Related posts:

1. Are franchise relationships dependent or interdependent?
2. Franchisors, Franchisees: Are You Grateful?
3. 10 Tips to create great Franchisee-Franchisor Relations