Earlier this month Jasper’s were presenting to the board of the British Franchise Association after being nominated as a best franchisee support finalist. On the panel was Sir Bernard Ingham, now the president of the BFA, who is probably best known for his role in Margaret Thatcher’s government where he was Press Secretary championing the Thatcherite cause - not an easy Job!
As part of the pitch I stated that as franchisors our main concern is to be respected over and above being liked. Don’t get me wrong, it is indeed possible be liked and respected, but ultimately it’s only important to earn respect by being ethical, honest, straightforward and doing what you say you are going to do.
That means that when we, or any franchisors, sit a franchisee down and state our single aim is to make sure you achieve and exceed your targets, we will sometimes have to nudge you back on track and be very blunt about what you need to do. You might not like this BUT it is all for the good.
Some people see these necessary areas of ‘confrontation’ as stressful or unpleasant, but avoiding them or not addressing them when necessary is weak, unethical and could end up with a franchisee not achieving their business goals.
Sir Bernard Ingham commented to me after our presentation that he once “wrote a speech for Margaret Thatcher where she stated it was more important to be respected than liked and that if more of our politicians took this position we might not be in the mess we are in". Whether you are Thatcherite or not, it doesn’t matter, but if you are going to join a franchise, yes it is important to like the franchisor and their team but ask yourself this more important question - will you respect them at the end of year one?!
