Data. It's moved from being a trendy buzzword to being an integral part of doing business – and for good reason. While data may seem overwhelming, once business owners start collecting and mining data it can become the best silent partner a business can have.
Specifically when it comes to franchisors, the potential uses of data is clear: develop better marketing materials, gain a more accurate prospective franchisee profile, make system tweaks for better efficiency, etc.
But how does data help franchisees at the unit level? Edris Yousefi is President of Franalytic, a technology company founded by former franchise consultants. Using its founders’ decades of industry experience, the company developed an analytics platform specifically-tailored for franchise systems and owners. Below Edris discusses with us why data at the franchisee level is so important, how it differs from the data franchisors tend to gather, and how unit level data can benefit a whole franchise system.
What are the major benefits to having data for franchisees?
Data is a catalyst for decision making and without data it's hard to measure, manage, and understand what's working and what’s not. This is no surprise to most of us, but unfortunately with a lack of resources and tools it becomes hard for franchises to transform data into actionable information. Having the right data readily accessible gives not only transparency but capability for everyone to influence the results. This provides benefits across the entire organization, from the corporate office and support teams to the individual owners who are trying to grow and sustain their small businesses.
Do you think franchisees in general know how much having data can help them?
I believe they are beginning to understand the importance of data for their franchise businesses. As all the industries get more and more competitive, each franchise company is looking for advantages and insights on how they can be successful. It's difficult because every industry is different and finding out how their own data pertains to their business model is key to how resourceful it can be. Leaping into a franchise business can be a big risk, so wouldn't you want to have all the tools to be successful?
How does a system like Franalytic help franchisees at the unit level?
Having franchise experience from both the ownership and corporate side for over a decade I've seen the challenges first hand. At the unit level it's demanding enough just being a business owner. They are constantly wearing many hats, putting out fires, and sometimes carrying full time jobs as well. Our system is built to be proactive, accessible, and fully tailored to their business. Being able to see their KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators), identify trends, and notice opportunities in real time allows the owner to make decisions much quicker and from anywhere in the world.
How is the data a franchisee would gather different than the data their franchisor has/gets?
Most of the data that the franchisor collects or provides is very raw and static. As we know, franchise owners come from all backgrounds so this can be challenging and time consuming for some to draw conclusions on how they are really performing. By trending the data, providing visualizations around it, and applying predictability functions they can really begin to understand and draw insights on how to grow their business. We also provide dashboards and tools for those that own multiple units, manage area markets, or a global view of the entire franchise.
What is the hardest thing for franchisees to get a grasp of when starting to use analytics software?
Analytics can seem very intimidating at first, but in most cases it's because there are a lot of features or metrics that are not applicable to them. Having dashboards and tools designed specifically around the numbers and data that is meaningful to their business really helps bend the learning curve and adoption. We provide a full training and support service around the software because the biggest opportunity lost would be for the owners to not utilize a tool around their investment.
How does optimizing the data collection of each unit benefit a franchise system as a whole?
Our philosophy is that by providing a direct benefit to each unit owner, you will see an improvement across a population of businesses. This creates a tremendous value and growth opportunity for the franchisor to build upon. It's also very exciting to see corporate offices deliver new solutions and tools to their organizations, their success motivates us to continue to deliver to their needs.
For more details on Franalytic, visit its website.