Franchise Update Magazine Issue IV, 2014 | Page 46
Grow Market Lead
F O U N D AT I O N S F O R G R O W T H
Peter Sheahan, keynoter
main points that will affect franchisors
in the years ahead: 1) sluggish economic
growth through 2016; 2) demographic
shifts that will be felt in both development and sales; 3) new ways to measure
franchise performance; and 4) capital
flowing to a greater percentage of “the
deserving.”
The implications of slow growth for
franchising, he said, include a battle for
market share, resulting in an increased
focus on marketing departments; more
attention to cost efficiencies; and an increased focus on transfers, with a word
of caution to franchisors: “Retiring old
hands won’t be able to take them on.”
Heading into 2015, he advised, “Be prepared to reach Millennials, pay more attention to transfers, and attract lenders
and franchisees with solid performance
data.” Finally, he said, slow growth is better than no growth, and “If you don’t have
good unit economics, fix it.”
The next speaker was keynoter Peter
Sheahan, author of Generation Y, Fl!p, and
Making It Happen. Sheahan, founder and
president of ChangeLabs, opened by saying, “The world is changing and so must
you.” His overall message centered on
the theme of “responding to change in
ways that help you grow.” He provided
powerful examples of companies that had
ignored change, planned poorly for the
future, and suffered the consequences.
But he also gave examples of companies,
like Apple, that gained success by looking forward, innovating, and knowing
and understanding their customers and
their markets.
Sheahan built his talk around what he
called the four foundations for growth:
1) future-focused assumptions, 2) nonsexy innovation, 3) intangible competitive advantage, and 4) collaboration. He
provided plenty of real-life examples
from companies including Nintendo,
Sony, Microsoft, McDonald’s, HarleyDavidson, and Subway to illustrate each
point. Growth stemming from innovation happens when a forward-looking
company (or individual) identifies the
Franchiseupdate ISS U E IV, 2 0 1 4
trend and finds a way to act on it in the
marketplace, either first or better.
“Nothing ever changes in an industry that nobody had predicted,” he said.
Rather, innovation and change are “hidden in plain sight. The problem is that it
sits on the periphery.” Change, he said,
is “really slow until it’s not—then it gets
exponential.” He then asked the audience, “Does anybody feel franchising is
on the tipping point of that right now?”
The general session continued with
a panel of high-powered franchise sales
pros discussing the results of this year’s
Annual Franchise Development Report
(AFDR) and Mystery Shopping Survey.
Nick Powills, Tom Wood, J.B. Bernstein, Gary Gardner
STAR Award winners CertaPro and Sport Clips
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J.B. Bernstein, Greg Vojnovich