28. February 2010 by Bob Griffin.

Darwin was right.  Survival of the fittest is the mantra of every living organism and that includes business.  It is especially true in franchising where fresh new operators jump into open waters under the watchful gaze of the franchisor.  Awash in the blissful wave that is the Franchise Agreement, franchisees feel safe that someone will rescue them if something goes wrong.  This is where Darwin’s theory smacks them upside the head with a thud.  The problem is that safe in business is not a reality you will find.  Did you ever think that some of the big-box retailers would go out of business?  Of course not.  Were you thinking bigger is safer.  That’s wrong and so is buying a franchise and thinking you are safe.

Want to be safe in business?  You have to work for safety.  There is risk in everything and the quicker you realize how fast things can turn upside down, then better your business will be.  The only constant in life is CHANGE.  Darwin knew that and he applied it to animals.  I know it and I see it every day in business.

As we have mentioned many times here at Business Bulldog, there are really three areas to pay attention to in your business:

1. The Leadership
2. The Employee Team
3. The Marketing

You may notice that no where in that list is a parachute with the franchisor of choice’s name on it.  That’s because you bought the right to use a system, not the right to be saved from failure.  Now, do not get me and the team at Business Bulldog wrong; the franchisor wants you to succeed.  They make more money when you make more money and they get to survive another day right along side of you.  Some franchises though are not set up for rescue missions.  We have worked with plenty of them and cried with the families who lost everything.

Jumping back a couple of paragraphs, I mentioned that you can work for safety in business.  Here is the secret to that safety in a franchise…follow the system.  Sound simple?  The franchisor has already lost a ton of money on how to do things wrong.  If it is a good franchise, it will change over time to meet the new needs of customers.  Follow the system and be prepared to follow the three steps above.  Focus on what will strengthen what you already have and your business will live another day.

The question you need to ask is, “Are you the right person to be a franchisee?”

If you are going to get into a franchise, think like Darwin.  Are you the strongest you can be to jump into the pool and keep your head above water?  Can you survive the first of many attacks by competition, vendors, and customers?  Your franchise may not be able to help you fast enough or understand what is happening in your local area.  There are more questions like this that you can ask, but the main question is, “Are you the right person to be in business under contract with a franchise and grow a business that you are comfortable with?”

How dare I say that some of you won’t make it in a franchise?  That seems to be the million dollar question.  That is, a million dollars you can earn or lose.  I would rather tell someone they aren’t ready to be in a franchise than let them flop around like a fish out of water with the hope they learn to breathe.  Darwin had it right.  There are groups of people who make it and thrive and there are groups that disappear.  The world of business is ugly and does care if you really, really want to be a business owner.  Failure happens more often than success.  It has always been that way and it always will be. Franchising is best suited for a follower/ leader - yes, that is the same person.  Is that you?

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2. February 2010 by Bob Griffin.

I was looking around my house for new items that would help me convey a sense of team dynamics to a group I will be speaking to later this week.  I have a speech I will use about the disconnect in most teams and how the dynamics of getting a team to embody a message is difficult, but not impossible.  Great speech if I do say so, but it was missing an element.  Something for the audience to “visually” hold onto while I made my story come to life.

I thought about using a knife since you need to cut through the clutter of “stuff” that gets in the way of delivering and receiving a message.  Can you image a speaker holding a knife in front of a group talking about slashing through the outside junk that builds up between you and your employees?  I came to the quick conclusion that they would wheel me out in a straight jacket if I did that.

I thought about bringing a peach.  Peaches smell nice and no one will think I lost my mind.  (That last sentence will not stand on it’s own)  Anyway, back to the peach…sometimes you need to gain a person’s focus with something that draws on one or more of their senses.  Peaches smell nice, taste great and feel soft and comfortable.  Most people know the taste of a peach and can see themselves eating it.  The point of using a peach is to say that there is a lot of reasons to just focus on the outside, tasty side of a peach, but if you want to grow, you need to dig through that part and get to the core where the pit is.  You can either focus on the one peach (the comfortable side of business) or you can focus on getting the team to put the pit in the ground and have each member of the team add their skills to growing a peach tree (the business) that will give you peaches (money) for years.  I am not sure I would be able to make a good point of team dynamics by talking about a peach, but it is a good visual…and tasty.

I kept wandering around my house thinking about how to get a message across to a group of people who are glad to have a job, but want to do as little as possible to make a living.  Then it hit me.  No, really it hit me.  My son threw a ball at me and yelled “catch!”.  How’s that for finding a visual?

Once I regained my senses and reassured my son that he was not in trouble, I looked at the ball and and I went through what happened.  In one word and in one action, my son made the point he wanted to get across to me.  “Catch the ball!”  Often I will clutter up my own words, actions, and attitude with too much stuff.  Stuff is the junk that makes every simple thing more complicated.  Holding the ball, I figured it out…toss simple, clear, understandable ideas to your team.  If they don’t get it, then get rid of them.  They aren’t trying and you do not have time to slow down for them.

Clear messages are the thing that most people have a hard time with when they want something done.  The best leaders make a clear statement.  They don’t spend time trying to get you to understand the history of why they are making the statement.  They just talk clearly, with one idea and one message.  I wish someone had thrown a ball at me when I was younger.  I would have saved piles of time and effort.  I probably would be a lot further ahead in life and business had I been jarred with a round object hurled at high speed.

Great team dynamics happen when you slow down and clear out the “stuff”.  Stop wasting time with explanations or trying to fit every message to everyone.  Either they trust you or they don’t.  Follow up on your directions and you will see who is listening and part of your team and who is not.  There is no way to please everyone and there is no way to have a group of people who are not on the job to follow you and find success.  Don’t feel bad for the ones who don’t get it.  They need to find their own clear message…with a different team.

By the way, I am going to use the ball.  I had already eaten the peach.

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