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 44 J.B. Bernstein, Greg Vojnovich