The outlook for the UK - and the world - economy is pretty dire and you can guarantee that lots of businesses will be taken under next year due to the environmental economics. You can also guarantee that there will be some businesses out there that flourish, increase their market share and profits, and go on to generate a fortune.
So what is the big differentiator between the two groups? One will have people with negative, dull, non-creative, non-passionate, reactive, non-marketing and non-sales attitudes ‘leading’ the business and the other will have the complete opposite.
One thing I have learnt in my 10 years in business is if you sit and wait you will be taken under. Sitting still in business is NOT an option, even in the best economic times, but in 2012 it will likely be fatal. The philosopher Heraclitus said: "You cannot step into the same river twice, for fresh waters are ever flowing in upon you." This was taken from his theory of flux published around 500 BC. He claimed that everything that exists is in a state of flux, change, movement or momentum.
Would a philosopher from 500 BC be able to walk into your business and be sure of its existence as a dynamic moving force?
Think about stagnant things – whether waters, minds, people or businesses – they are almost all dead or at best snoozing and like the infamous 1980’s slogan says: ‘you snooze, you lose’
The reality is that in 2012 you need to ramp up your sales and marketing activity and underpin it with product and service innovations that demonstrate you are moving, progressive, dynamic and that you have the strategy to ensure you are going to exist in the future. If you don’t do this, your business will likely end up just like Heraclitus – DEAD.
Nathan Siekierski
Director
Jasper's Catering Franchise Ltd
http://www.jaspersfranchise.co.uk/
Monday 12 December 2011
Tuesday 29 November 2011
Is it best to keep franchising in the family?
I am often asked what the ideal candidate is for running one of our catering franchises. In terms of personality, it’s someone who is self motivated, disciplined, positive, cares about delivering to high standards and is passionate about customer service.
But increasingly the evidence suggests the ideal ‘candidate’ is not one person but two. Our most successful food franchises so far are those run by married couples and business partnerships, and we are increasingly finding that prospective franchisees are couples rather than individuals.
Franchise owners – rather than business managers – have a vested interest in the success of their business. They are more likely to pour their heart, sweat and tears into it because it is their livelihood: their investment and their family’s future. That dedication and focus increases when you have a franchise partnership. One of our food franchises has worked so well as a family business that they are looking to open a second, run by their enterprising 21 year old daughter! Another had a 30% increase in sales after bringing a partner on board.
According to the annual NatWest/British Franchise Association survey, no fewer than one-in-four franchises in this country are owned by couples. There are many benefits: couples and partnerships often find that there is a natural split in workload, with one person gravitating towards sales and growth, and the other focusing on operations. Being able to bounce ideas and keep each others’ ‘emotions’ in check also really helps. As does knowing each others’ strengths and challenges – and not being ashamed to admit the challenges! There is also the implicit trust between couples and partnerships, with the ability to rely on each other, even if things become tough.
The downside? Well all married couples or partnerships have stresses and strains on their relationship! But ‘bringing work home’ takes on a whole different meaning as challenges are solved, ideas shared and future plans built together.
That’s not to say that dedicated, talented individuals can’t make a great success of a franchise – but we’ve found with our catering franchise, that partnerships are an advantage.
Nathan Siekierski
Director
Jasper’s Catering Franchise Ltd
http://www.jaspers-franchise.co.uk/
But increasingly the evidence suggests the ideal ‘candidate’ is not one person but two. Our most successful food franchises so far are those run by married couples and business partnerships, and we are increasingly finding that prospective franchisees are couples rather than individuals.
Franchise owners – rather than business managers – have a vested interest in the success of their business. They are more likely to pour their heart, sweat and tears into it because it is their livelihood: their investment and their family’s future. That dedication and focus increases when you have a franchise partnership. One of our food franchises has worked so well as a family business that they are looking to open a second, run by their enterprising 21 year old daughter! Another had a 30% increase in sales after bringing a partner on board.
According to the annual NatWest/British Franchise Association survey, no fewer than one-in-four franchises in this country are owned by couples. There are many benefits: couples and partnerships often find that there is a natural split in workload, with one person gravitating towards sales and growth, and the other focusing on operations. Being able to bounce ideas and keep each others’ ‘emotions’ in check also really helps. As does knowing each others’ strengths and challenges – and not being ashamed to admit the challenges! There is also the implicit trust between couples and partnerships, with the ability to rely on each other, even if things become tough.
The downside? Well all married couples or partnerships have stresses and strains on their relationship! But ‘bringing work home’ takes on a whole different meaning as challenges are solved, ideas shared and future plans built together.
That’s not to say that dedicated, talented individuals can’t make a great success of a franchise – but we’ve found with our catering franchise, that partnerships are an advantage.
Nathan Siekierski
Director
Jasper’s Catering Franchise Ltd
http://www.jaspers-franchise.co.uk/
Thursday 13 October 2011
What makes a successful business owner?
Last week I was looking at data that covers many different business operations in many different territories. Irrespective of geographical location or economic conditions, some franchises were clearly outperforming others. My team and I decided to drill down and look at the high and low performers and what was causing the difference in their success rates.
In the bottom half of business performers, the people generally look like this:
The work like a manager not a business owner
They fail to take 100% responsibility for everything that happens in their business
They give up too easily when it comes to winning business
They blame everything out there: the government, the roads, the tax system, their sales people…
They believe they simply cannot do anymore
They don’t invest in themselves
They don’t take advice seriously
They don’t test and measure…
and as a result they generally feel trapped, stressed, struggle to manage time and don’t get the financial rewards they dreamed of.
The good news is it doesn’t have to be like that. So what do the top performers look like:
They take full responsibility for everything that happens in their business
They, to quote Churchill ‘Never, never, never give up’
They take into consideration the economic environment BUT do whatever it takes to overcome it
They always think they can do more
They constantly invest in themselves and have a hunger to learn
They listen to and learn from people that have made it
They are always testing and measuring new products and marketing techniques.
The disappointing news is that over the past five years the gap between top performers and lesser performers is growing. There are 4.8million small businesses in the UK now (around 500,000 started up last year). So that is a lot of business people to potentially fall into the low performance category.
So how do you make sure you become a top performer? Well the answers are above. Add those characteristics to making sure you plan, have a clear vision and create robust systems and you are on the road to success.
It’s easier said than done though when you are starting out. That’s why I recommend you consider franchising. It’s the equivalent of having your own business but you are not alone and you have a strong support system in place.
Whatever you choose to do, good luck, and make like a high performer.
Tuesday 27 September 2011
How to bullet proof your business against the machine guns of the economic downturn.
In the great depression of the 1930’s there were queues of people waiting in line to get bread, millions of people out of work with no means to generate income. Yet at the same time highly successful startups were being born – household names such as Hewlett-Packard Corporation, Fisher Price and Duracell. The difference between those challenging economic times and today’s, are that in this downturn people are still queuing for the new Ipad. I’m not trying to belittle the situation, it is indeed serious, but my point is that as the economic environment changes, it takes those down that are doing the wrong things, and leaves more for those doing the right things.
So what are those right things to do?
1) Customer love – if you want to bullet proof your business then you must look after your customers, and I mean truly thank them for their business, show them you care and let them know how important they are to you. Start by picking up the phone to them and asking ‘how are you doing, are we looking after you?’ Then listen. There is no room for poor customer service in the new economy
2) Marketing – you must have a good healthy pipeline of leads, which means you must know how to market, and I mean properly. You need to run at least five types of marketing at any one time and then test and measure. You could do pay per click, postcards, email marketing, scratch cards and a newsletter for example. Record what business you get back from each and then do more or less depending on your return on investment
3) Keep good company – think of the people who surround you. You are most likely a hybrid of the company you keep, including the pessimistic and ‘unlucky’ ones. So review your social sphere and look to keep the company of more positive successful business people. Create a master mind group of five or six people with whom you can meet once a month to set goals and overcome common issues
4) Employ good people – good people don’t chase money, but they do want to be well trained, valued and have clearly defined roles. Understand that these people will make a difference to everything you are trying to achieve. So review your team, and restructure or rebuild it with people of high standards and passion
5) Sell more – sounds obvious right? But seriously you need to be able to sell more of what you currently do but also think about what else you could be selling. If you sell carpets for example you could be selling carpet cleaning services and chemicals as well. If you sell lamps you could be selling electrical services too. If you sell exercise equipment you could be selling nutritional supplements, and so on. Look at it from a customer’s point of view – it would make their life easier to buy from you, an existing supplier
6) Plan with consequences in place – have a plan that is achievable, measurable and that is public! If you say you are going to sell 100 TV’s before Christmas, then tell all your colleagues publicly that you are going to do it, by when, and state clearly that if you don’t achieve it you will run naked around the city centre!
7) Lead – you have to become a leader in your business. Acting stressed, throwing toys and being moody will take your business down like a lead balloon. You must learn to be enthusiastic, take time for your people and be in control. You can achieve this by listening to audio books for knowledge and taking time out to recharge.
When this current economic environment has changed there will be those shot to pieces on the floor and another group that survived and thrived, those that were bullet proofed against the recession.
Nathan Siekierski
Director
Jasper’s Catering Franchise Ltd
http://www.jaspers-franchise.co.uk/
So what are those right things to do?
1) Customer love – if you want to bullet proof your business then you must look after your customers, and I mean truly thank them for their business, show them you care and let them know how important they are to you. Start by picking up the phone to them and asking ‘how are you doing, are we looking after you?’ Then listen. There is no room for poor customer service in the new economy
2) Marketing – you must have a good healthy pipeline of leads, which means you must know how to market, and I mean properly. You need to run at least five types of marketing at any one time and then test and measure. You could do pay per click, postcards, email marketing, scratch cards and a newsletter for example. Record what business you get back from each and then do more or less depending on your return on investment
3) Keep good company – think of the people who surround you. You are most likely a hybrid of the company you keep, including the pessimistic and ‘unlucky’ ones. So review your social sphere and look to keep the company of more positive successful business people. Create a master mind group of five or six people with whom you can meet once a month to set goals and overcome common issues
4) Employ good people – good people don’t chase money, but they do want to be well trained, valued and have clearly defined roles. Understand that these people will make a difference to everything you are trying to achieve. So review your team, and restructure or rebuild it with people of high standards and passion
5) Sell more – sounds obvious right? But seriously you need to be able to sell more of what you currently do but also think about what else you could be selling. If you sell carpets for example you could be selling carpet cleaning services and chemicals as well. If you sell lamps you could be selling electrical services too. If you sell exercise equipment you could be selling nutritional supplements, and so on. Look at it from a customer’s point of view – it would make their life easier to buy from you, an existing supplier
6) Plan with consequences in place – have a plan that is achievable, measurable and that is public! If you say you are going to sell 100 TV’s before Christmas, then tell all your colleagues publicly that you are going to do it, by when, and state clearly that if you don’t achieve it you will run naked around the city centre!
7) Lead – you have to become a leader in your business. Acting stressed, throwing toys and being moody will take your business down like a lead balloon. You must learn to be enthusiastic, take time for your people and be in control. You can achieve this by listening to audio books for knowledge and taking time out to recharge.
When this current economic environment has changed there will be those shot to pieces on the floor and another group that survived and thrived, those that were bullet proofed against the recession.
Nathan Siekierski
Director
Jasper’s Catering Franchise Ltd
http://www.jaspers-franchise.co.uk/
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