eDivert’s top tips to running a successful franchise operation.

As the franchisor of the eDivert Franchise Network, I spend a lot of time mixing with and chatting to people who own franchises and people who want to buy into them. As I learn more and more about this really excellent business model, I find there is one topic that surfaces time and again: training.

Time to learn

To be more precise, it’s the quality of training that is the point here. It is clearly critical to the success of franchisees (and therefore, ultimately, to the success of the franchisor) that training is delivered clearly, in a timely fashion and in a manner that enables people to truly hit the ground running. The difference between a successful and a failed attempt at buying a franchise business is often those first tentative steps. If the training is thorough, and properly targeted, franchisees will not look back. On the other hand, we have taken on franchisees who have seen other attempts fail because there simply wasn’t enough, or the right sort, of training and they couldn’t get their new business off the ground.

Learning styles and speeds

At eDivert, our training is delivered through a mix of online interactive sessions and webinars and we aim to provide a step-by-step guide, along with the necessary resources, to enable our franchisees to build a successful business. Doing it this way means people can also refer back to repeat anything they aren’t clear on. Everyone’s learning styles and speeds are different and it’s important to make allowances for that.

In fact, we pride ourselves at the feedback we get about how thorough our training is and we believe the average time it takes for franchisees to earn back their initial investment is just 7 months. This is because we equip them to make a positive start. There’s no hesitancy or deliberation because they are clear on everything after completing the training.

What do we cover?

Our training modules cover the following:

• Where do I start: What do I need to set up my business and what materials are available as part of my eDivert package? This includes Terms and Conditions, Service Charge Lists and Packages and so on.
• Marketing and Sales for my eDivert business: How do I generate leads? What marketing tools should I use? How do I close a sale?
• The Services: How do I deliver the different services and what do I need to deliver them?

Learning on the job

We also actively encourage our franchisees to work as a virtual team. In fact, our business model is built on this as franchisees can team up to deliver services or refer one another if they are experts in something specific. This also encourages ongoing networking and learning once the formal training is over. To be honest, I don’t think any of us should ever stop learning. Apart from the fact that the business world is forever changing, there’s always a tweak or an improvement that can make a difference to you and your customers.