Just like in any company setting there are good employees and not-so good employees. The same rings true for franchises, there are good franchisees and not so good franchisees. Franchisors have been looking into data that highlights which franchisees are more profitable than others, and the character traits correlated with this difference. At Ben & Jerry’s, “every single person in our organization has a little bit of an operational background,” said Colette Hittinger (Sr. Mgr. Franchise Operations at Ben & Jerry’s). Budgeting, she stressed is crucial, especially early on: “You do not want to get in a black hole, because once you start spiraling down, it’s really hard to climb back out.”
On communicating with franchisees: “Think of it as good parenting,” said Hittinger, and while it’s important to recognize successes, “you also have to be clear about the ‘never evers.’ For us, you’re never ever going to put an unapproved product in one of our scoop shops.”
