When was the last time you reviewed your Franchise Operations Manual. With advice from Louise Harris, The Ops Portal, we look at the key of this crucial piece of collateral?
When you set up a franchise, one of your most crucial documents, alongside the franchise agreement (the parameters of the franchisee business relationship written in formal, legal, English), is your operations manual. This document is the guidebook for how franchisees can run a business under your brand. As Louise Harris, from the Ops Portal, explains, “Your Operations Manual has two parts: The first read shows how a franchisee can successfully operate in your industry and run the business. The second is much more detailed, giving ‘how-to’ descriptions for the actual elements of your brand; it’s more technical.”
We’re willing to bet that if you’ve been in franchising for any length of time, it may be a while since you refreshed your Operations Manual. Though, whenever you make changes and innovations to your business or structure, one of the first things you should be doing, is incorporating them into your manual, to enable franchisees to follow your guidebook to success.
For Louise, the real crux of this is around how the Operations Manual is presented. “Many people can be turned off by the thought of reading big, thick, Manuals. One of the ways to overcome this is by incorporating video elements to your manual, showing rather than telling, how to do something. It can be as easy as taking a handheld video of a franchisee performing specific roles in their business, for example. Although you can’t do away with writing altogether, it’s worth thinking about how to present it: from using as few words as possible, to using bullet points, or colour so the document is more engaging and accessible for people. This is important when you have franchisees with dyslexia or where English isn’t their first language.”
Whilst it is an important document, not only does your Manual need to be up-to-date, but it needs to be legally unique to you and your brand. Because of the Copyright laws franchise brands are entitled to have, it’s not about looking at what another franchise has done, and replicating it for your Manual, no matter how amazing you think it is. This is where drawing on the skills of someone who enjoys creating Operations Manuals (like Louise!) is beneficial, especially when you don’t.
Over the years, industries and technologies change; such as a new legal requirement for your industry, better systems and processes, or a franchisee has discovered a better way to operate. This means you need to regularly make updates to your manual. As Louise says, “Your Manual is a living breathing document! If you want to maintain credibility with your franchisees, and not lose money in your business, keeping your document updated is incredibly valuable, especially when you make regular updates and changes to your business. And that your franchisees know whenever you make a change to it! You need an efficient feedback loop to let franchisees know there’s a change, and how to implement your changes into their business.”
There’s a moral, ethical, and legal responsibility when it comes to the Operations Manual and so supporting your franchisees to not just be aware of changes and updates you’re making, but to incorporate them too. Some franchisors feel intimidated at the thought of reviewing their Manual, worrying they don’t have time, so they put it off and put it off. But there are tools and resources to help, such as offering a reminder to franchisees to check and review their Manual whenever you make a change. “In reality,” Louise explains, “your Manual is a great tool, but only if it’s relevant. And then throw in the ‘people problem’ where franchisees can be slow on the uptake, and your change becomes challenging. Established businesses, who regularly update their manuals, will work with their Franchisee Advisory Committee, talk through the strategic process for the future of the brand with the franchisees. They’re then in a position to help and guide the rest of the network on behalf of the franchisor.”
So, when it comes to the value of your Operations Manual, hopefully you can see that it’s something which can strengthen your business and not updating it can add risk to your franchise operations. We would recommend listening to more of what Louise discusses, as she talks through her franchising experiences and why, as a franchisee, she faced challenges herself around an outdated Operations Manual!
Find out more about Louise and The Ops Portal