Franchise Direct has invested a serious amount of intellectual energy in trying to provide an accurate state at the international franchise market. In today's blog, we'd like to deal address an intriguing aspect of the international franchising: recruiting top talent.
Opening a franchise in a new country is challenging undertaking, as we all know. You will have to adapt your franchise brand to an entirely new culture, not to mention a different economy. But perhaps even more complicated is the process of employing talented executives who you can trust to lead the expansion of your franchise brand.
We've been considering this issue after reading an article from Bloomberg on the subject. They quote the example of Domino's, who spent six months headhunting and assessing resumes before they employed Richard Allison to be its new international executive. The story also quotes executives from Popeyes and Dunkin’ Brands who are currently searching for new international executives to field their foreign division.
The truth is, there aren't many people qualified for such positions. American executives are by nature well-versed in the goings-on in the North American economy who know nothing about franchising regulations in Singapore or Indonesia.
“You can’t go in with a standardized product or platform. You’ve got to go in with localized knowledge ” Jack Russo, an analyst at Edward Jones & Co. in St. Louis, told Bloomberg. Attracting that localized knowledge is a challenge, especially as franchises continue to woo foreign markets in the face of stagnating prospects at home. By the end of this year, there will be more Domino's Pizza franchises outside of America than in America.
In turn, the demand for executive-level expertise on international franchising has never been higher.