🕒 Estimated Reading Time: ~4 minutes
When your franchise business is humming along nicely, it’s easy to forget about the “what if’s.”
But don’t worry, because I’m going to show you how to put some backup plans in place so you can continue to operate your business when things go wrong.
<div class="_form_1"></div><script src="https://franchisedirect52345.activehosted.com/f/embed.php?id=1" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>
What Could Go Wrong?
In business, lots of things. Here are a couple of them.
1. Equipment breakdowns.
Most franchise owners will tell you that equipment failures can quickly slow things to a crawl.
For example, if the dishwasher in a full-service restaurant goes on the fritz, it will be difficult for the kitchen to plate orders. That’s a problem. And a large number of customers who have to wait a long time for their food isn’t good for business. Think reviews.
Other types of equipment that can fail include:
- Sign-making machines found in sign franchises
- Printers used by printing franchises
- Water-drying equipment used by restoration businesses
- Dry-cleaning equipment used by dry cleaners
- Delivery vehicles used by all types of franchise businesses
- Moving trucks used by moving and storage franchises
- Maintenance equipment used by cleaning franchises
- Point-of-Sale (POS) systems used by retail and food franchises
2. Staffing shortages.
It’s almost always challenging for employers to find high-quality employees.
For example, recruiting employees to work in the food-service industry has its challenges. Especially now. In truth, food franchise owners are having a tough time finding managers, assistant managers, and front-line workers.
But food-service businesses aren’t the only type of small business finding it difficult to hire and retain a workforce. Other franchise businesses that are experiencing labor shortages include:
- Retail
- Home services
- Senior care
- Children’s related businesses
- Automotive
And there may be others.
So what can you do?
All Franchisees Need Backup Plans
No matter what type of business you own, you need to have backup plans in place. It’s the only way to make sure your business remains up and running at all times.
For starters, you need employee backup plans.
But how can you implement them when there aren’t enough employees to fill your positions?
The answer lies in recruitment. You need to find creative ways to recruit employees. That means looking in places that are under the radar. But how do you find those unique, under-the-radar areas?
Talk to your fellow franchisees.
Chances are they’ve had staffing shortages themselves. And if you talk to enough of them, you may hear a couple of ideas you haven’t thought of.
Here’s the thing.
Once you find and hire a core group of employees, specifically the ones who always show up and who represent your business the way it needs to be represented, you can spend whatever time is needed to find extra employees. Ones who can serve as backup employees when you need them the most.
I know what you’re thinking. “What if I can’t find enough good employees?”
You’re going to have to do a lot of the work.
Welcome to small business ownership.
Want to know the best part?
Nothing ever stays the same.
In reality, they’ll be times when you have more than enough employees and times when you’re short.
Are you willing to do whatever it takes to keep your business up and running?
Backup Plans for Business Equipment
As I noted earlier, equipment breaks down. But thanks to terrific technology improvements that have taken place over the years, things don’t break as often as they used to.
To that end, you still need to have backup plans in place. Here are a few things you can do, equipment backup-wise, for your franchise business.
1. Purchase additional equipment.
You may own a franchise that includes back-up equipment in the startup cost. If that’s the case, problem solved. If not, as part of your due diligence, you need to find out what the franchisor does and what the franchisees do when a crucial piece of equipment breaks down.
2. Partner with another franchisee.
If you own a franchise in an area where other franchisees operate, it will behoove you to create a relationship with one or more of them. Why?
So you can put together ideas on how to help one another if an equipment failure occurs.
3. Backup all of your business systems.
In most cases, your franchisor will have backup systems in place to safeguard your data. But what if their backups fail?
As far as I’m concerned, you also need to backup all of the data your business uses and has.
Those things include customer information, marketing/advertising templates, employee information, payroll and more.
The bottom line?
You’ll sleep easier knowing you have implemented backup systems to keep your business and your livelihood on an upward path.
The Franchise King®, Joel Libava, is a top franchise expert. He’s written over 2,000 different articles on franchise ownership and personally consults with people who are looking to buy a profitable franchise. Go here to find out how The Franchise King® can help you become your own boss.