It’s probably thought of as a no go zone, the franchisor wants their members to follow a system, and the franchisee wants to have a system that ensures ongoing viability, and therefore $$ in the bank to fund their lifestyle.

For most the entreprenerial activity in a franchise will happen at the “top end”, where the franchisor develops the business and puts a lot of effort into finding opportunities the franchisees can utilise. This is the real entreprenurial catalyst area, being proactive, being innovative and taking risks… But wait, what would happen if the franchisees did that too! ARRGH! You want them to follow not to lead… well yes… to a point.

Imagine you have a franchise with 100 franchisees, and only you provided the system and there as no feedback, sounds ideal right… but What if… they were to find ways of doing things better and pass them on to you. If each of them put in one small idea that impacted the business by 1% then you would have a business that was 100% better! (okay stop laughing its a concept not a mathematical model! But you get the point.)

Many franchises have fully functioning adults as franchisees, and over time you could utilise their collective intelligence to make a difference to the overall business, to their business to our business experiences as customers. Often all you need to do is ask.

- Provide an avenue for the franchisees to have input into the business, from start to finish.

- Encourage them to think outside the square (not to create headaches) to find ideas and opportunities that could make a positive difference to the way the business runs.

- Explore focus groups and think tanks so they can feel part of the whole business and ts overall success.

- Become a business that is known for listening and then acting when appropriate. Then encourage your franchisees to do the same.

Whatever the orientation of your franchisees entreprenuerial or not… utilise their expertise and experience to build a business that can offer greater stability and strength, in the long run a well managed entrepreneurial franchise will always beat the compeition hands down, due simply to being one step ahead of the game.