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About Gary Fieldsend

I work with companies that are franchising their business and consult with them on the best way to document their system standards and procedures. I then create a customized franchise operations manual that is used by new franchisees. I have written over 20 manuals for businesses new to franchising as well as established companies like Cricket Communication, Radio Shack, Panda Express, ServiceMaster, ColorTyme, and Snap Fitness. Feel free to contact me if you need an operations manual or if you have questions about the many options available for companies needing manuals.
10 10, 2016

The Franchise Manual Podcast – Episode #10 – Psychographic Analysis for Franchisors

By |October 10th, 2016|Franchise Development, Franchise Recruitment, Franchisee Profiling, Podcast|Comments Off on The Franchise Manual Podcast – Episode #10 – Psychographic Analysis for Franchisors

zoracle Rebecca Monet of Zoracle talks about how to utilize Psychographic Analysis, or personality profiling, to assist in franchisee selection and help franchisors select franchisees who will more likely fit into the corporate culture and who are more likely to be the best performers in the system.

Time Stamps
00:02:33 – Segment 1 – Get to know Rebecca
00:21:06 – Segment 2 – Psychographic Analysis for Franchisors
00:50:30 – Segment 3 – Quick Draw Questions

Segment 1 – Get to know Rebecca
Recorded on at the Franchise Expo West, Denver Colorado
Born in Au Switzerland
She is NOT related to Claude Monet
Grew up speaking High German (Swiss German) in the house. Lived on a dairy farm as a child. Parents were Baptist missionaries.
Moved to the United States when she was 14 years old.
Moved to California in 1984 as a single mother to seek her fortune.
Founded her first business in 1994, Noodle Metrics
Co-founded her second business called Proven Match in 2009
Founded Zoracle Profiles in 2013

Segment 2 – Psychometric Assessments for Franchisors
How franchisors can use psychometric assessments to improve franchisee performance.
To a franchisor, granting a franchise is very much like getting married, with very little courting in order to “get to know” their partner.
Personality style questions are not used at Zoracle because there is less than a 3% correlation between personality and performance.
The science of the process is not in the questions themselves, rather how the participant orders certain words into a hierarchy of preference that is weighted on the back end. This gives clues about motivation, drive, and the decision making process of the participant.
The psychographic analysis is not fool-proof but there are mechanisms in place to report out inconsistencies in the answers of the participant.
Startup franchisors with no existing franchisees can still benefit from a psychographic analysis tool.
A psychographic analysis tool will help a franchisor in the following ways:

  • Faster ramp-up
    • Better quality franchisee and faster ramp-up
  • Better validation
    • Greater franchisee satisfaction, better validation and less litigation
  • Reduced cost to support
    • Reduced cost to recruit, support and train franchisees
  • Greater retention
    • Stronger franchisee compliance and retention
  • Increased performance
    • Increased franchisee performance and profitability

Segment 3 – Quick Draw
Rebecca’s favorite book – The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
PC and iPhone
Doesn’t watch TV – doesn’t own a TV
Working on her master list of movies that her friends helped her create in order to learn more about Americana culture.
IFA – Dentate YES!
Hobbies: golf, painting, cooking
Dog person: Bernese Mountain Dog
She used to be a car collector – 1967 Cougar
In a time machine, she would go to 1955 when cars were sexy
She has wanted to be a psychologist her entire life

Rebecca Monet’s Contact Information

Kit Vinson’s Contact Information

Books Mentioned in the Episode:

  • Autobiography of Ben Franklin
11 08, 2016

The Franchise Manual Podcast – Episode #9 – Franchising as a Partnership

By |August 11th, 2016|Franchising Basics, Podcast|Comments Off on The Franchise Manual Podcast – Episode #9 – Franchising as a Partnership

Jim Richardson, a franchising veteran from Pizza Hut (20 years) and Panda Express (15 years) discusses some foundational franchising theory in a “Franchising 101” segment. Afterwards Jim expands on fundamental best practices for franchisors as they develop their franchise system.

Timestamp:
0:00:41 – Jim Richardson Introduction
0:03:15 – Segment 1 – Get to know Jim Richardson
0:16:58 – Bonus Segment: Franchising 101
0:40:00 – Segment 2 – Franchising is a Partnership (Business/Branding)
1:05:44 – Segment 3 – Quick Draw Questions

Jim Richardson

Show Notes:

Segment 1 – Get to know Jim Richardson

Recorded on location at Jim Richardson’s house in Parker, Texas – just a few miles away from the famous Southfork Ranch (Who shot JR?)

Born in Rockwell, Iowa

Jim’s first real job was as a grocery man

Studied chemistry and finance.

Small town boy makes it big – Ford Motor Company, Pizza Hut, and Panda Express

Bonus Segment – Franchising 101

Franchising allows you to expand your concept by utilizing the resources of others.

Money

The franchisee pays his part of the investment capital that is necessary to expand in exchange for the majority of the revenue.

People

In many cases, people is a more constraining resource than money

The franchisee will source the people that will make them and your brand successful

Time

A franchisee can duplicate you, working on his/her side of the expansion investment as you continue to grow your business form the franchisor side.

Connections

In this conversation, the term connections refers to real estate connections. A franchisee will have a closer tie to the local market in order to maximize potential from the real estate selection. This is particularly important with international franchising.

When is a good time in the lifecycle of a business to start franchising? How do I know it’s time?

When you attempt to franchise before you have all of your systems in place then you are asking a prospective franchisee to take bet on you when you have taken only a limited bet on yourself.

Don’t franchise until you have the answer to all of the questions:

  • What has made me successful? Why is my concept successful?
  • When you know what it is that made you successful, then you know what you need to impart to others to make them successful.
  • Why do customers like you?
  • Why do customers come back?
  • Can I duplicate a customer experience?

Do I have what it takes to be a franchisor?

What is your leadership style?

  • Command and control versus collaborative
  • You will be entering multiple long-term relationships. Are you ready to do your part in the relationship? Can you work well with others?
  • Personality profile tests can help you determine your leadership style as well as evaluate how a new franchisee will fit into the system.
  • Biggest myth in franchising: I don’t franchise because I want to have total control of the business. Franchisees have more incentive to follow a system standard than an employee
  • If you are a command and control style of manager, you can still franchise but you won’t like it as much, and neither will your franchisees.
  • Command and control franchisors will also miss out on many innovations that come from franchisees (e.g. paper cups at Starbucks, pan pizza, and the Big Mac)
  • Most franchisee relationships last longer than the average marriage.
  • To be successful in franchising a concept, you have to have both a business that is ready for franchising and a leadership team that is ready for franchising.

What is your growth strategy?

  • Fail to plan, plan to fail.
  • Be able to pay equal attention to both company-owned and franchise locations.
  • Can you remove yourself from your business for 1-2 years and still have it operate efficiently? Do you have the infrastructure to franchise?

Segment 2 – Topic Segment

Franchising as a Partnership

Franchising is an extreme relationship and your franchisees will need your attention

Franchising is a bilateral relationship where each party should be able to learn from each other.

How to find the best franchisees: When you build a solid reputation, the people that you want will come to you.

Just because a prospective franchisee has something that you want (access to prime real estate or lots of money) doesn’t necessarily mean that they will be a good franchisee.

Look deeper into a prospective franchisee before you decide to accept of decline them. It is not just about access to money. It is about character and integrity. You want franchisees with the following characteristics:

  • Character
  • Trustworthiness
  • Have something to teach you
  • Open to learn from you

The relationship between franchisor and franchisee must be complimentary. If they knew and had everything that you know and have then why would they need you? If you knew and had everything that they know and have, why would you need them?

If all you are looking for in franchisees are carbon copies, then don’t franchise. You probably already have that in your corporate staff.

After you have brought in franchisees that are unlike you, then don’t forget that they are unlike you.

Examples of how franchisees with complementary management styles can benefit the organization:

  • Price: Ted Swan in Lansing, Michigan – Introduced the coupon pricing model with pizza when nobody else was doing it. Ted had knowledge that corporate didn’t have.
  • Place: Dick Freeland in Ft Wayne, Indiana – Discovered a method of expansion that had his future customers paying for his expansion costs.
  • Promotion: P-zone by pizza hut – The campaign failed because the word P-zone was dangerously close to the Spanish word for nipple. The franchisees in Latin markets knew this – corporate didn’t.
  • Product: Many product innovations have come from franchisees versus corporate.
  • Purpose: The purpose of a franchisees business may or may not be complimentary to yours. This refers to the questions, “Why did they decide to become a franchisee?”
  • Accept the differences. Just because differences exist between franchisor and franchisee, this doesn’t make you unequal.
  • Demand that your relationship with franchisees be one of equality.
  • Franchising is where servant leadership thrives.

Success in franchising takes more preparation than success in your own business.

  • Inspect your success. What is it that made you successful?
  • Spend time reflecting instead of projecting forward.
  • Determine how you are going to transfer your knowledge to franchisees.
  • Franchising is all about knowledge management.
  • Know what you know. “If HP only knew what HP knows.”
  • Put metrics in place that measure the activities that lead to your success.
  • Know your benchmarks so that you can document them into a “playbook” that the franchisees can use to replicate your success.

Segment 3: Quick Draw

Jim’s favorite book – The Hobbit

Jim would love to travel back in time to see Leif Ericson – he is fascinated with archeology

Whataburger versus In & Out – WHATABURGER WINS!!!!!! Take that Mike!

Favorite movies: The Matrix and The Jason Bourne series.

iPhone all the way – Yahoo Sports is his most used app

  • Texas Rangers
  • Minnesota Vikings
  • Iowa Hawkeyes
  • Dallas Mavericks
  • Texas Longhorns

If Jim had $1 billion, he would give it to his wife. Go figure.

Jim Richardson Contact Information

Kit Vinson’s Contact Information

e-mail:  kit.vinson@franman.net
Phone:  214-736-3939 x1

Website:  www.franman.net

Listener Highlight

Angela Cote
Angela Cote Consulting Inc.
Business growth and franchise specialist
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
www.angelacote.com

Books Mentioned in the Episode:

  • Pour Your Heart Into It – Howard Schultz
  • The E-Myth – Michael Gerber
  • Can’t buy me Like – Bob Garfield

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28 06, 2016

The Franchise Manual Podcast – Episode #8 – How to expand a franchise concept into the Middle East region

By |June 28th, 2016|International Franchising, Podcast|Comments Off on The Franchise Manual Podcast – Episode #8 – How to expand a franchise concept into the Middle East region

Yendy KhayatFranchise consultant Yendy Khayat speaks on the topic of how to expand a franchise system into the Middle East region. It is a complicated topic that would probably require 10 episodes in order to cover thoroughly. In this episode we attack the topic from 65,000 feet.

Segment 1: Get to know Yendy
In segment one of this episode we spend a little time getting to know the person Yendy Khayat. We learn a little about what it was like growing up in Beirut, Lebanon, her multinational educational path leading to an MBA with an educational emphasis in hospitality, and how she has successfully leveraged her impressive education and work experience into a successful franchise consulting career. By the way, she is fluent in three languages.

Segment 2: Expanding a franchise into the Middle East
In segment 2 Yendy and I try to logically attack the very complex topic of expanding a franchise system into the Middle East region. There are a lot of moving parts to this endeavor that would certainly be considered a “black diamond” run in franchising. However, we learn that with the proper prior planning and a good helping hand is can be a very fruitful expansion project for certain franchise concepts. The topics of discussion are:

Why the Middle East region is worth considering

  • Large market and growing
  • Favorable laws
  • Young and upwardly mobile consumer market
  • Strategically located

How to move forward with expansion in the region

  • Expansion models with local partners
  • Funding options
  • Intellectual property protection
  • Multinational law firm
  • Cultural considerations
  • Logistic considerations
  • The importance of proper infrastructure
  • Modification of training and support programs

Challenges that can hinder or halt expansion progress

  • Some concept categories experience the more success than others
  • Brand offering modification
  • Halal certified food
  • Design modifications
  • Language barrier
  • Reacting to leads versus logical business decision
  • Time zone allowances
  • Expansion into the Middle East region is “advanced franchising” and not for the beginner

Segment 3: – Quick Draw Questions

Segment 3 is a fun way to wind down the episode with quick, fun questions such as favorite movie, favorite book, etc. We find out what Yendy would do if she had enough money to never have to work again.

This is a FANTASTIC episode and a MUST LISTEN if you have ever considered expanding your franchise system into the Middle East region. We don’t provide all of the answers but we cover enough to get you on your way if Middle East expansion is part of your plans to grow your system.

Yendy Khayat
The Franchizery
Al Wahda City Tower,
Hazza Bin Zayed the 1st Street,
P.O. Box 96115, Abu Dhabi,
United Arab Emirates
+971 2 8186736, +971 2 8186737
yendy@thefranchizery.com

Kit Vinson
FranMan Inc.
214-736-3939 x1
kit.vinson@franman.net

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7 06, 2016

The Franchise Manual Podcast – Episode #7 – Expanding a franchise into Canada

By |June 7th, 2016|Franchise Law, International Franchising, Podcast|Comments Off on The Franchise Manual Podcast – Episode #7 – Expanding a franchise into Canada

In this episode of The Franchise Manual Podcast we speak with Canadian attorney Joseph Adler and Alex Spiro on the topic of how to expand a franchise system into Canada while avoiding the common pitfalls that hinder many franchisors.

Segment 1: Get to know Joseph Adler
In segment one of this episode we spend a little time getting to know the person Joseph Adler. We learn a little about his childhood growing up on Hamilton, Ontario, his first job, and his pathway to law school.

Segment 2: Expanding a franchise into Canada
In segment 2 Joseph Adler outlines some of the common pitfalls that many non-Canadian franchisors experience when they attempt to expand their franchise system into Canada. The topics of discussion are:

  • Maximize the U.S. market first – maintain domestic focus
  • Ensure that your IP is protected
  • Be proactive rather than reactive
  • Ensure necessary supply chain – Import issues
  • Market analysis – Canadian taste preferences
  • “Canadianize” the FDD and Ops Manual
  • The importance of engaging a Canadian franchise attorney
  • Understanding the competition
  • Finding the right franchisee

Segment 3:- Quick Draw Questions
Segment 3 is a fun way to wind down the episode with quick, fun questions such as favorite movie, favorite book, etc. We find out what Joseph would do if he had $1 billion to make the world a better place. We also find out if this Toronto attorney is a closet spaghetti western fan.

This is a FANTASTIC episode and a MUST LISTEN if you have ever considered expanding your franchise system into Canada, or if you just want to get to know Joseph Adler a little more than you already do.

Canadian franchise attorney Joseph Adler talks about the similarities and differences between the Canadian and American franchise landscape.

Timestamp:

0:00:50 – Joseph Adler Introduction
0:03:50 – Segment 1 – Get to know Joseph Adler
0:33:25 –  Segment 2 – How to expand a franchise system into Canada
1:11:07 – Segment 3 – Quick Draw Questions

Joseph Adler
Hoffer Adler LLP
425 University Ave., Suite 300
Toronto, Ontario M561T6 Canada
www.hofferadler.com
jadler@hofferadler.com
416-977-3444

Kit Vinson
FranMan Inc.
www.franman.net
kit.vinson@franman.net
214-736-3939 x 1

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28 04, 2016

The Franchise Manual Podcast – Episode #6 – How to be the Best Franchisor

By |April 28th, 2016|Franchising Basics, Podcast|Comments Off on The Franchise Manual Podcast – Episode #6 – How to be the Best Franchisor

Doc CohenDoc Cohen was an absolutely fantastic guest on The Franchise Manual Podcast. If you miss this podcast you will be missing one of the best ones yet.

If you already know Mr. Cohen then I’ll bet that you will still learn something about him that you didn’t know in the “Get to know Doc Cohen” segment. If you didn’t already know Doc Cohen then you will definitely learn a lot about one of the finest men in the world of franchising. Find out why they call him “Doc”. Find out what Mr. Cohen has in common with Ray Kroc and Dave Thomas.

In “The Fun Questions” segment you will learn what Mr. Cohen’s favorite movies and TV shows are. You will be surprised when you find out. I surely was. (Did he say that he wants to be a zombie?)

Most importantly, in the topic segment, “Being the Best Franchisor from the Perspective of the Best Franchisee”, find out what advice Mr. Cohen gives to all franchisors in order to help their franchisees flourish and reach their success potential.

Special thanks to Jerry Darnell for introducing me to Mr. Doc Cohen.

Doc Cohen is a multi-unit and multi-concept franchisee, and he talks about how to be the best franchisor from the perspective of the best franchisee. Doc Cohen is the only franchisee ever to be inducted into the IFA’s hall of fame.

Timestamp:

00:02:00 – Get to know Doc Cohen

00:36:00 – How to be the Best Franchisor

00:52:00 – The Fun Questions

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9 02, 2016

The Franchise Manual Podcast – Episode #5 – Franchising and Social Media

By |February 9th, 2016|Podcast, Social Media for Franchisors|Comments Off on The Franchise Manual Podcast – Episode #5 – Franchising and Social Media

anthonlyowenAnthony Owen, president of Manalto Inc. talks with me about how franchisors, both big and small, can better manage the daunting task of social media. Obviously the topic of social media is much too vast to cover thoroughly in such a short period of time but you will find some really good takeaways in this episode.

Anthony Owens discusses how franchisors should and shouldn’t use social media in their franchise system.

Timestamp:

00:00:48 –  Anthony Owen Introduction
00:02:19 –  Segment 1 – Getting to Know Anthony
00:20:43 –  Segment 2 – Social Media for Franchisors
00:51:00 –  Segment 3 – Quick Draw Questions

Websites Mentioned in the Podcast:

www.manalto.com

www.franman.net

Anthony Owen Contact Info:
310-266-8874
anthony.owen@manalto.com

Kit Vinson Contact Info.
214-736-3939 x 1
kit.vinson@franman.net

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24 01, 2016

The Franchise manual Podcast #4 – Franchise Brokers – Nick Gugliuzza

By |January 24th, 2016|Brokers and Consultants, Podcast|Comments Off on The Franchise manual Podcast #4 – Franchise Brokers – Nick Gugliuzza

nick03 Nick Gugliuzza of Empire Business Brokers shares with us his knowledge and experience as he teaches franchisors what to look for in a franchise brokers, what to expect from a broker, and how a franchise broker can help any franchisor efficiently achieve their growth goals.

Did you know that Niagara Falls dried up once, and Nick was there to witness it? Did you know that Nick was drafted by a major league baseball team? Did you know that Nick was almost alligator food once? All of that is in this episode as well.

Podcast Segment Timestamps:

03:13 Segment 1 – Get to know Nick

28:20 Segment 2 – How to select a franchise broker

53:00 Segment 3 – The Speed Round

Companies and websites mentioned in this episode:

The Franchise Manual Podcast – www.franman.net

Empire Business Brokers- www.empirebb.com

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14 01, 2016

The Franchise Manual Podcast #3 – The Host is Interviewed – Kit Vinson

By |January 14th, 2016|About the Host of the Podcast, Podcast|Comments Off on The Franchise Manual Podcast #3 – The Host is Interviewed – Kit Vinson

This episode of The Franchise Manual includes an interview of the host, Kit Vinson, by Henry Lopez of Levante Business Group. In the interview several topics are covered such as how Kit co-founded FranMan Inc. with his brother, what Kit believes to be the keys to his success, and much more.

The host of The Franchise Manual Podcast, Kit Vinson, is interviewed in this episode.

Company websites mentioned in the podcast:

www.levantebusinessgroup.com

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7 10, 2015

Unusual Manual Topics

By |October 7th, 2015|Uncategorized|Comments Off on Unusual Manual Topics

I started to attempt to create some “click bait” and call this, Top Ten Crazy Things We’ve Seen in Manuals and You Won’t Believe Number Ten, but I want to temper that a bit and talk about some of the more unusual topics we’ve had to address and the reasoning behind them.

If you’ve read any FDDs or looked at the sample manual outline of our site, you’re familiar with the generic topics that most manuals contain. Since we custom build each manual, we tend to stray from the standard topics and over the past ten years have covered some very unusual subjects.

  • The first category that tends to come up, are topics dealing with the unpredictability of customers. I’ve written sections covering dealing with drunk customers in the drive-through, angry customers wanting a manager, lost children and ruined clothing from an employee accident.  How your franchisees handle these situations says a lot about your business and brand.
  • Second is the unpredictability of franchisees. There are many franchisees looking for a way to express their individuality and we have covered some wild ones. I’ve seen everything from selling totally unrelated products, creating the rogue Twitter account, sponsoring the local topless girl of the year pageant, to giving away a free shotgun with a purchase. It’s important to set limits and create guideline for what you allow and don’t allow. What seems like common sense to you might not be for everyone.
  • Finally, is the unpredictability of employees. Your brand is one of your most valuable assets, both to you and your franchisees. When one of you franchisees’ employees shows up at your yogurt store with the full face tattoo and a “screw the government” t-shirt, unless your franchisee knows how to handle it, you’ve got problems.

I could swap war stories all day long and will be happy to in the comments, but the main point I want to stress is that while you can take a generic outline or template and create a franchise operations manual, I encourage you to set down with a manual writer and really think about where you might have inadequate document structure, inadequate instructions, or outright omissions. Then, create a manual that is unique to your company and your company’s System Standards. It is too easy to rush out a manual and then find you have “no teeth” when a franchisee starts doing something damaging to your brand.

3 09, 2015

Understanding Franchising – Bob Gappa – The Franchise Manual Podcast #2

By |September 3rd, 2015|Franchising Basics, Podcast|Comments Off on Understanding Franchising – Bob Gappa – The Franchise Manual Podcast #2

Bob GappaThis podcast was inspired by a document written by Bob Gappa titled, “Understanding Franchising”. In this document, Mr Gappa defines the nature of the relationship between the franchisor and the franchisee. In this podcast Bob really shines as he is deep within his element touching on topics such as the history of franchising, the purpose of a Brand, and of course, Peter Drucker.

If you are a start-up franchisor then this podcast is a MUST – no question about it. If you work for an existing franchise organization then the contents of this podcast could really help you see where your comapny may have made a wrong turn in managing the relationship with franchisees – more importantly, how to correct those problems.

You can get a copy of this document directly from Management 2000 simply by sending an e-mail to m2000@mgmt2000.com. Or, you can call 800-847-5763 and ask for a copy.

Bob Gappa of Management 2000 explains in detail a paper he has written called “Understanding Franchising”. This paper details the nature of the relationship between franchisor and franchisee, the importance of using the proper language when talking to franchisees about their investment, and the true purpose of the fees that a franchisee pays to the franchisor.

Podacast Content Timestamp

0:00:51 – Bob Gappa Introduction
0:03:04 – Get to know Bob Gappa questions
0:27:29 – Understanding Franchising discussion
1:24:22 – “Quick Draw” questions and answers

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