How to keep your franchise running past the first year
The vast majority of franchise owners will have a business launch plan, an initial startup fund, and the business know-how to run the day to day operations of the company.
However, once the first year finishes your startup money will begin to run dry. Without proper planning, in all likelihood, you’ll hit some trouble past the first 12 months. Here are a few ways you can prepare for the future.
Try to build up an emergency fund
Disaster can often strike. It could be a local issue such as a road closure just outside your branch, or it’s a national issue such as an economic downturn that means people are spending less. When this happens you’ll need the resources to get through a difficult time.
To do this, you’ll need to build up an emergency fund that you can access in case of any major threat to your business. If you do so, you can make the good times in your business pay for when you’re struggling in order to keep sustainable.
Hire a reliable, long-term team
When your company is starting up you might prefer to hire staff quickly in order to finally get the idea you’ve had in your head for years up and running. However, when you are getting your team together you need to look out for people that will stay loyal to your brand.
This is especially important for management franchise roles. If you come into any trouble, employees that don’t care about the business will be much more likely to jump ship. Replacing them could make it harder to stay afloat. By hiring people who will stand by the company in the first place, this won’t be an issue.
Stay passionate and committed to your customers
A company which cares about its customers is one that a customer will want to go back to. No matter the industry, if a customer feels like they are truly valued then they will want to keep coming back.
By supporting your customers when they need you, you’re ultimately supporting yourself in the long run by guaranteeing that people will keep coming back for years to come. There’s no better cure for a struggling business than happy and consistent customers.