Old-timers fondly remember the days when the fast-food franchisee was a business owner in your town and lived in the community. I grew up in a town where the Dairy Queen franchisee had two stores; his kids went to high school with me, and people I knew worked there. That franchisee was part of the community.
Those days are gone. Amid a seismic shift toward industry concentration, large operators have taken over hundreds or thousands of locations. That has sparked concern among some franchisors about a lack of grassroots management expertise. Many of the current executives with franchisors have grown up under a “franchise lite” model. They have never operated or developed stores, and therefore don’t relate to it well in many (but not all) cases. That can cause problems if franchisees default because franchisors lack the know-how to step in. As a result, the tail is wagging the dog.
Some franchisors are trying to solve the problem by taking a cue from the past and pushing for owner-operators to live in the community where their stores are located. If franchisees are local, they reason, quality will improve organically due to pride in ownership.
I believe that’s a step too far and risks missing out on some great franchisees. I have many successful clients with far-flung empires who have figured out how to hire people with a spirit of ownership. By promoting from within, offering the correct incentives, and managing relationships correctly, these clients are successful owners of stores in markets where they do not reside. They owe that success to the people they have put in place as their managers.
The issue isn’t ownership per se. It’s about fostering the attitude and attention to detail that enables a manager to succeed.
I once helped a longtime client who owned a large number of stores acquire 28 more locations. The asset he seemed most excited about was the seller’s senior manager. My client had taken a hard look at the best incentives to get that guy to stick around, and fortunately, they worked.
When my wife and I went out to dinner with my client, his wife, and the manager, the conversation took a funny turn. The manager couldn’t stop talking about the details of running his stores. This guy, I realized, was out to impress his new boss, who already runs great stores. He could not wait to share his knowledge. He spoke with such earnestness that his monopolizing the conversation was completely forgivable.
The dude was internally driven to do a good job, and he was one of the most detail-oriented people I have ever encountered. This is a guy who, if he had a job bagging your groceries, his attitude would be, “Okay, I’m bagging the groceries, so I’m going to do the best damn job possible.” If he were your fry cook or assistant manager, or manager, he would go all-in. Frankly, it was clear he would be even better than my client at running his stores, and my client would be the first to admit that.
I don’t do all the filing at my office, but I have done it. Because I have done it, I know how to assess it and how long it should take. I can show others where the pitfalls lie. In the areas I am really good at, I am good at those things because at some point I messed up, I paid the price, and I had to fix it. I can also explain to others how to do that task really well.
The same principle holds true for grassroots restaurant managers. As a well-known author on leadership once wrote, “A leader must own everything in their world.” In today’s tough operating climate, there is simply no alternative.
