Succeeding With Systems

I sponsored a seminar on Saturday where Howard Berg, The World’s Fastest Reader, doubled the reading speed – or more – of everyone in attendance. The seminar was held at McDonald’s Corporate World Headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois.

The setting for the event was first-class from start to finish, including the classroom, hotel rooms and the gourmet VIP luncheon.

Conspicuously absent were elements that everyone has grown to expect from McDonald’s: low-quality food, uncomfortable seating and basically no service.

In their place were classy, comfortable, high-quality surroundings and delicious, healthy food served by a white-gloved staff on fine china.

Which leads to the only possible conclusion anyone can draw: the McDonald’s corporation makes the conscious decision every single day to serve low-quality food in no-frills environments.

It’s not that they CAN’T provide a luxurious experience – it’s that they simply decide not to, because they fully understand that what determines the success of any business is the quality of its operational and marketing systems and not just the quality of its products or services.

Take one look behind the scenes of every McDonald’s location, and there you’ll find The World’s Best System for running a business. THAT’S where they provide an unparalleled experience – their franchise owners get the absolute best the business world has to offer.

And that’s important, because the vast majority of independent small businesses fail before they ever grow past infancy. On the other hand, the overwhelming majority of franchises succeed.

What’s the key to this stark difference?

Systems.

The franchise has them; almost all independent small businesses do not.

So if you’re looking for as close to a can’t-miss business opportunity as there is, you need to look into purchasing a franchise.

There’s a franchise for virtually every industry in the world. They are fairly easy to acquire and come with a practically out-of-the-box, pre-assembled system that leads to business success.

McDonald’s, for example, has over 33,000 locations, with its average U.S. location pulling in over $50,000 per week in revenue.

That’s a lot of very fast (and not very good) food, and one fantastic business system.

Here are the three keys to selecting a potential franchise:

I. Business Format Franchise

The business format franchise came from an earlier model called the “trade name” franchise. The big change was in the rights.

During the “trade name” days, the franchise owner only had marketing rights. Now, franchisees have ownership rights to the entire business – including its systems. This has allowed for a shift in focus from the quality and name recognition of the products carried by the business to the sales and marketing techniques that carry the business.

II. The Franchise Prototype

The franchise prototypes allowed key changes to be made that help today’s franchises really shine, with the techniques developed by the owners instead of the corporation. This simple fact can make a significant difference in the success of the franchise, because each owner can custom-tailor his or her marketing and promotions to the direct needs of his or her local target customers.

III. Franchise Prototype Standards

Now, the above being said, no one in their right mind would purchase a franchise if the parent company didn’t have a solid plan of action set up to ensure the success of each of its franchisees.

You may not be able to afford your own McDonald’s, but there are a few standards that are put into place to help jump start the process of opening a successful franchise of any kind. Make sure to look for a franchise with as many of the following as possible:

• A proven system to attract prospective customers or clients, suppliers, creditors and employees
• A system that can be operated by individuals of any skill level with minimal training
• Detailed operations manuals covering every area of the business
• An overall business system to provide guaranteed, consistent results
• A model that encompasses consistent branding in color, dress and facilities codes, etc.

These are all ways the parent corporation makes sure their brand stays the same and in the front of the minds of customers. When you are purchasing a franchise of a widely-known brand you will attract customers just because of your brand, and will have a system that, if implemented, will lead to consistent, predictable results.

If you are considering purchasing a franchise, make sure to talk with one of our experienced SSSMarketingUniversity.com business coaches during our FREE test drive.

We can also help you create systems for your own current business to give it the best possible chance to survive and succeed.