Franchise Update Magazine Issue III, 2013 | Page 18

Grow Market Lead

Leadershipguru:
Greg Tanner

What Are
Your Values?

I

wonder if franchise leaders understand how important values are to
attracting the best-fit candidates to
their business and to ensuring the
success of their franchisees.
We hear franchise prospects asking,
“How does the business work?” and “How
will I make money?” but I can’t remember in my 40 years in this business more
than a handful of would-be owners asking, “What are your values?”
And just because they don’t blurt out
the question doesn’t mean it’s not a high
priority. I would put values near the top
of candidates’ lists of criteria when investigating a franchise business.
It should be obvious, but why are
values important to prospects? Well,
they’re not buying a tube of toothpaste.
They’re investing their life savings, their
retirement accounts, possibly a second
mortgage in your business. It’s one thing
if they fail; it’s another if you fail them.
They can’t afford your scandal, impropriety, deceit, secrecy, and indifference.
Values are the foundation for your
business. They provide the structural
integrity for your business model, training, systems, support, and, most important, your corporate culture. Without

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Franchiseupdate Iss u e III, 2 0 1 3

values, you have no basis on which to
recognize problems, surface solutions,
and make decisions. You may be selling
a brick-and-mortar franchise, but it’s
the shared values of your people and the
soft touch of the relationships that hold
it all together.
I’m not much interested in the adage,
“Leaders are born; not made.” My starting
point is what are leaders doing today
and where do they plan to take their
organizations tomorrow? Given that, if
the person at the top hasn’t articulated
and consistently communicated a set of
values throughout the franchise system,