Nearly all successful franchises eventually reach a point where they’re entrenched in their current way of doing business. That’s why smaller startup companies have a tendency to grow so quickly. Since they’re designed from the ground up, they can adopt every single new piece of technology as it comes on the market. Established firms are stuck with the way they’re currently doing business.
That leads many to believe that changing nearly anything at all will cause serious disruptions, so they seldom implement any new solutions in their existing franchises. There are actually more than a few ways to do so without running into the huge difficulties that tend to plague companies going through a period of transition. Those who want to phase at least some newer technologies into their franchises may want to start by simply updating whatever equipment they currently have.
Phasing New Solutions Over Time
Once you have every patch in place, you can choose to add new technologies to your workflows on a relatively leisurely schedule. Managers who want to buy a franchise online can use new online web directories to do so. If you want to find insurance options or new raw material vendors, then you can often look for these on the web as well. As long as you make sure to add online search technologies and individual apps slowly, you won’t have to worry about any sudden shocks to the system.
Efficiency experts feel that this is a good approach to take when trying out new mechanical solutions as well. Restaurant franchises that want to put in newer shake machines or griddles would do well to phase them in over time, thus giving their individual operators a chance to train their employees to work with them. Doing so will also help identify any bugs before they see a wide release.
Updating Your Existing Workflows
Think back to the last time you actually installed all of the various bug fixes and patches that you’re supposed to process on a regular basis. There’s a good possibility that you haven’t done this in quite a long time. While some vendors automatically update their applications, most give users the chance to opt out. This is especially true of patches that only add new features. If you use a video conferencing application that regularly pushes out new decoder software, then you might not have installed any packages in a long time.
Simply running all of the updater libraries at work can bring in a host of new features. More than likely, you can’t tell individual franchise operators what to do. They represent their own independent businesses from your head office. You can, however, take this opportunity to make the head office as efficient as possible. Others may then follow your example, especially if they see how much easier it makes your life.
Though the technology landscape is constantly changing, there’s no reason your franchise should have to turn itself on its head every time something new comes out. Spend time researching your best technology options for your franchise company so you can make a well-informed decision that will serve your franchise well.
