How to Write a Better Franchise Manual for the Cloud

The preparation and ongoing maintenance of the operating manual, is for many the most demanding part of launching a franchise. But indisputably it is critical to the success of your system. Your operations manual is the single document that enables your franchisees to replicate your system in specific detail, providing you with the confidence that the quality of service will be the same across the whole of the network.

Why you need a manual

shutterstock_107143715A proper manual will allow you to own and copyright your concept, know-how and trade secrets. It furthermore is the very core component to establish the contractual obligations you provide each franchisee. The manual not only reinforces the terms of the franchise agreement – it also enables you to secure quality standards, enforce what’s mandatory and drive consistency across your network. It also provides you with a tool for upcoming audits, continuous monitoring and control.

Will the manual benefit my franchise?

You bet it will. Regardless is if you already have a strong brand, or on your way to build one, establishing consistent procedures is vital in every step of the way. Your manual will ensure that your franchisees are contractually obliged to live up to the brand values you have established. Furthermore, a manual will help you to achieve: greater efficiency; determine success and failure, set expectations for customer satisfaction is; and ultimately, drive greater customer loyalty across the entire value chain; from you, to the franchisees, and to your end-customers. And, with the manual as your front-line support, the business partnership between you and the franchisees, will actively help reduce the number of e-mails, and enquiries back to HQ.

So where do I start?

Your probably already know that the franchise agreement typically requires you to have the manual ready for your first franchisees, and when training beings. But writing an effective manual, and delivering it in a fashion where the workplace can truly put it to use, is a challenge. We are slowly seeing a turn, where the old franchise manuals sitting in binders in the back of an office are going away, and many are converting their manuals to PDFs or similar. That is a good first step – and no doubt - the future of the franchise manual is digital. But the next generation franchise manual is not built as a PDF and stored in a Sharepoint repository. It is a cloud based, searchable, role based Franchise Software Platform that is linked to every vital part of your franchise network. Here are some of the immediate benefits:

  • EASIER TO MANAGE - A digital manual eliminates the need to send out frequent updates
  • SMARTER DELIVERY OF CONTENT - A role-based manual in the cloud means users only see what they need to see
  • QUICKER ACCESS - A searchable manual means users can access the right information faster

How can I make it easier for my franchisees?

But before you start to write, I must emphasise the need for creating a manual that actually delivers true value. One significant difference in how we approach franchise manuals, is how we write and shape the content. Over our 15 years in the franchise industry, we have seen hundreds and hundreds of manuals written in a disciplined, rigid way. But quite frankly, many of them are packed with text that is difficult to follow. Remember your audience! When we designed our cloud based franchised software platform, we were determined to also develop a franchise manual format that would not only be available in the cloud and easily integrated with our franchise system, but we also wanted to apply a more logical flow in how it was developed and written. This methodology is a process built on decades of combined experience acquired from working with franchise and retail clients in various sizes and industries.

"We estimate that operations manuals developed with Chainformations method can reduce text volume by up to 50%, and therefore increase both readability and operational efficiency.”

Here’s what we do:

  1. Instead of working with traditional chapters and departments, you need to apply a “from issue to outcome”-approach for each work process in your franchise system, and connect it to your organization’s work streams.
  2. Identify the 20% of your core processes that drives 80% of your profitability and brand value, as well as your existing process problems and root causes.
  3. Once these core processes are identified we have to create a consistent format for each page and a table of content, to secure that every single process is described in the same manor. (See list below)
  4. Identifying and setting measurable standards and quality levels for each process is one of the most important features, but almost always missing in traditional operation manuals and other manuals. Your co-workers have to be given a reference point which they can evaluate their daily work and performance against. They need to understand what a “job well done” is.
  5. Finally, each process must be connected to one or several roles. This is to secure accountability if a “job well done” is performed or not, but also to be able to reduce access to irrelevant information for those roles not involved with a specific work process.

Our process of mapping your processes to create the franchise manual can be seen here Our process of mapping your processes to create the franchise manual can be seen here

In its final form, each process is documented with the least required amount of content for a successful operation:

  • What is it (describes the process)
  • Rules (what to follow, consequences in agreement)
  • A job well done (how to know if you have succeeded - quality standard)
  • Remember (important to consider)
  • I have responsibility (Role: who)
  • I have delegated responsibility (Role: who else)
  • When do I do the job (timing, frequency)
  • What routines are part of the job (1-2-3 step-by-step guide)
  • What documentation and tools do I need (be properly prepared)
  • Where can I get help (our best practice)

Example from a cloud based franchise manual, role based Example from a cloud based franchise manual, role based

As you can see the outcome is a very easy to digest; job instruction that anyone in the organization can quickly grasp. The common page structure increase readability and familiarity for the reader. Once the operations manual is completed, we to embed it into our cloud based franchise software platform, delivering your know-how through a high powered Intranet designed specifically for your franchise. Your operations manual will now be available at the fingertips of your work force directly in the store – completely role based, platform independent and searchable. It contains your most valuable assets and should be used as the common knowledge hub and training base for all your new recruits. If you want to learn more about franchise manuals and our process, here is a good case study.

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