Change: A franchise's friend or foe?

“Nothing is constant except change.” That quote came to mind today in thinking about what franchise organization would I want to be part of. It may be a strange way to think of picking a franchisor, but it is a crucial way to think.

After all, if the franchisor is not on top of change, then all of the stores die a slow death until one day the network closes its doors.

Change is in the air. Fads change. Food even changes. Remember when Tofutti, an ice cream made of Tofu, was popular? Technologies change. Buying habits change. Obviously, with all of this dynamism, selecting a franchise that is going to be there in the long-term and not just the short-term is critical. One wants to be with a franchise product or service that is going to be there years from now. So, pick a product that looks like it has market stability — staying power. But that is not enough. Pick a franchise that has growth through innovation.

One certainly would want to pick a franchise that negotiates bumps well and anticipates the road ahead better than its competitors. This is something that a would-be franchisee can discover and make judgements on based on the company’s past, it’s pool of talent, and its vision for answers. How quickly and innovatively does a franchisor adapt to market change? When and how did they do this last?

Of course, if the company makes too many mistakes in anticipating the market, the franchisee suffers because they must bear the brunt of capital expenditures in new equipment, etc. to meet fast changing franchise system standards. No change at all and the franchise system becomes a has-been with cobwebs growing in the door from a lack of customers. Too much and the franchisee can be greatly taxed to keep up.

There is a second dynamic to change. Even products that are stable and growing today have no guarantee of future growth. Most likely Americans and much of the world will continue to eat burgers decades from now. However, there is no guarantee that burger shops may not be hard hit tomorrow.

Why? Because competition changes the landscape, technologies change and consumer habits can change. Some franchises thrive on change and others become mired down by their own culture of preserving system standards that may have worked twenty years ago but have lost the skills to be update business strategy, services and products for the needs of tomorrow’s customer.  ***