Franchise Update Magazine Issue II, 2013 | Page 70

Grow Market Lead

International

By William Edwards

World Wide Growth
Technology eases the path to
international expansion

T

echnology is critical today
to finding, signing, starting
up, and growing your international franchise network.
Technology can also save a U.S. franchisor money, help grow international
units faster, and help preserve your
brand across the world. Today, your international franchisees may be in time
zones 12-plus hours—a full half-day—
away from you. If you master franchise
your brand outside the U.S., the most
important thing to remember is that
your international masters are both
franchisees and franchisors.
The really good news is that, thanks
to the Internet, most U.S. franchisors
already have many technology tools
developed and in place that are
directly applicable to international development. This
helps lower the cost of international development,
training, support, and
brand control.
1) Your intranet.
U.S. franchises are
almost forced
to have good
intranet resources to
compete in
the domestic
marketplace.
Your intranet provides franchisees with the latest manuals,
operating systems, marketing,
training, and best practices for your
franchise. It is available 24/7/365. This

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is the most cost-effective and focused
tool a franchisor has to provide information to international franchises and
to focus them on only what the franchisor wants them to use. Your intranet is
one of the most important tools international franchisees pay for.
In addition to being able to post
documents on your intranet for franchises around the world to view and
download, services such as DropBox,
Box, and YouSendIt allow a franchisor
to cost-effectively, quickly, and securely
share information around the world
without time zone constraints.

Perhaps he biggest benefit of the
franchisor intranet is online training
that is accessible to the international
franchises and their employees. Video
training programs can be dubbed in different languages or simplified so that
images convey the standards required to
conduct the franchise business properly.
2) POS and web-based franchise
management systems. Increasingly,
franchise POS systems are web-based.
This allows (or requires) the international franchisee to use systems that
provide a franchisor almost instant access to the daily operations of a store,
restaurant, or office. Deviations from
the standard revenue, expense, and operating parameters are seen in the home
country and can be quickly corrected
by phone calls or emails.
Many U.S. franchisors have taken
this to a higher level by running their
local unit businesses through comprehensive web-based management systems.
Inventory is often part of this system.
Reporting is key across many financial
and operational factors. These are all
tools that help grow international units
faster and better. While some interfacing and localization is often required,
the local franchisee must conform to
the U.S. franchisor’s standards to maintain their franchise and to realize the
margins possible. The emergence of
detailed dashboard systems in the U.S.
that keep track of many financial and
operational parameters at the unit
franchise level has given a key
tool to both franchisor and
franchisees. Franchisors can
see the “real time” activity
of unit franchisees on a
global basis.
One of the most important aspects of webbased management and
reporting is the elimination of the local international franchisee saying their
country’s business standards
do not allow them to report
often and consistently.
3) Development. The emergence of web-based CRM and lead
management systems in the U.S. has
provided another global tool for fran-