This week marks the start of the National Franchise Exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham. This event will see over 150 franchised brands gather together under one roof with over 40 seminars on offer and exclusive support from the British Franchise Association.
Franchises are one of the UK’s continuously growing sectors, with a turnover of £12.4 billion last year. The sector has weathered the recession very well and has often proved a more successful route than launching a new, independent business during a difficult economic climate.
So what makes a successful franchise? Certainly an established, well-recognised brand name is a great foundation to start with, but a business will not survive on a name alone. For a franchise to really fly, it takes a successful combination of key components. These essential attributes include wider business support, strong skills training and the economics of scale. A successful franchise will also depend on the sheer determination, motivation and enterprising nature of the leader at its helm as well a sound local business focus.
The role of learning and development is absolutely essential to the success of a franchise. After all, the franchisee is following proven business success and using it to replicate a successful model. For the franchise model to work, the mechanics of a business must be fully transferrable and must be able to run in multiple locations. To be a successful franchisor, you must be able to effectively transfer your skills and knowledge to the franchisee to ensure they can offer the same quality of service and/or product.
This is where LMS (Learning Management Systems) can be a vital tool for the franchisor. With multiple franchisees occupying different locations throughout the country – or even internationally, robust and easily accessible channels of communication are essential for development. That’s why e-learning is surely an obvious choice for the franchise sector.
Brands don’t stand still, they continually evolve and expand; this could be through an extended product range or by offering additional or extended services to their customers. With each new product, service or expansion in the brand – additional training, learning and general communication amongst the franchisee base must follow. Online development is the fastest, easiest way to get your teams up to speed.
All franchisees sit under the one brand vision and e-learning could be a critical tool in upholding core brand values throughout a widespread chain of physically unconnected units.
If you want to incorporate LMS into your franchise business, speak with accessplanit today by calling 0845 5430229. The award-winning LMS on offer can transform learning and increase training efficiency.