FRANCHISE MANUALS

Expert Training and Onboarding from FranSource

For 30 years, we’ve crafted custom Franchise Operations Manuals in industries such as foodservice, education, retail, and more.

Success is in the details

Most clients admit they don’t know the first thing about writing manuals. They shouldn’t have to. FranSource is expert at developing clients’ entire Franchise Operations & Policies Manual and employee training manuals, which most other franchise consulting companies don’t offer. Instead, they provide “templates” which supposedly assist the client in figuring out how to “transfer” their entire business system into comprehensive franchise operation manuals. We just don’t believe that works well. We’ve had too many existing franchisors come to us to “fix” their manuals.

One of the most important components of a successful franchise operation is a standardized system that franchisees follow to ensure consistency in the franchise system. To this end, we develop and prepare comprehensive manuals, which include those outlined below. Our job is to ensure consistency, legal compliance, operational efficiency, and brand protection.

Franchise Operations Manual Development - Man in jacket working outside his franchise concept dreaming of expansion

Franchise Operation Manuals are crucial for both Franchisors and Franchisees

The International Franchise Association (IFA) defines a Franchise Operations Manual as:

The bible of a franchise system. The manual is the place to look for instructions on how the franchisor wants the locations to operate and for other policies, requirements and recommendations concerning the franchise system. You get an operations manual to follow — a “playbook” you can run — instead of having to improvise everything yourself.

A well-conceived and executed Franchise Operations Manual is believed to be the most important document that a Franchisor has to train, regulate, and guide franchisees. A Franchise Operation Manual should never be considered “rules and regulations” that are limiting, but rather, help and support that’s liberating. Simply put, a Franchisee should not need to attempt to figure things out for which the Franchisor knows everything.

Fortunately, FranSource is an expert at developing and drafting comprehensive Franchise Operation Manuals, which is part of our proven franchise development process that contributes to our clients’ and their Franchisees’ successes.

Confidential Operations & Policies Manual

A comprehensive Franchise Operation & Policies Manual ("Manual") is one of the most effective methods of conveying policies, protocols, and procedures to Franchisees. Existing Franchisees also benefit from a comprehensive Manual relative to the ongoing operation of the franchise business. When properly implemented, the Manual ensures consistency between both the corporate and independently operated franchise locations. The Manual also saves valuable resources at the corporate level by minimizing the time franchise personnel spend responding to Franchisees’ questions.

The Franchise Operation Manual produced by FranSource acts as both a training manual for new Franchisees and an ongoing resource manual for established Franchisees. In addition, the FTC permits the Manual to be a unilateral extension of the Franchise Agreement. This allows the Manual to serve as the vehicle through which your company may modify policies, protocols, procedures and other “non-material” aspects of the franchise business.

We determine the content of the Manual through the use of questionnaires, interviews with key team members, and if requested, on-site inspections/meetings at your business. The content of the Manual includes pre- and post-opening policies, protocols, and procedures that address every aspect of the franchise business. The Franchise Operation Manuals we develop for clients average 350-800+ pages depending on the business concept.

Employee Training Manuals

Employees need structure and direction. Many are working their first jobs, and the more experienced shouldn’t doubt their choice or think the company needs to “get its act together.” FranSource is adept at breaking down all aspects of what employees do to provide structured training and direction for employees at every level of the business operation.

Aside from the business benefits of consistency and control, employees derive better satisfaction when they understand what is expected of them and that their employers have thought enough of them to provide robust training programs to help ensure they excel at their position. This improves performance and engagement, while encouraging employee retention and promoting leadership.

If you do not currently have employee training manuals and would like our assistance, we will consult with you to develop applicable training manuals to ensure the proper training of your Franchisees and their employees. Ultimately, through the development of our clients’ Franchise Operation Manuals, we can take the procedures, policies, and protocols that we include in the Manual for each staff position to develop applicable employee training manuals.

Brand Guide/Brand Manual

Most companies do not realize one of their greatest assets is their brand. However, if you look at a “big brand” such as Coke, over half of the value (market cap) of the company is designated to the value of Coke’s brand. We encourage franchisors to develop their brands consistently and intentionally. Part of growing a brand beyond its current value is in documenting and operationalizing brand asset use such as logos, trademarks, taglines, photography style, copy style, font usage, etc. We also encourage Franchisors to communicate the meaning of the brand and what makes it different against the competition. FranSource works with Franchisors to develop brand guides or more extensive brand manuals so that franchisees, vendors, media, and others correctly use the brand assets of the organization.

Brand consistency is critical in franchising, as it ensures customers have a reliable experience at every location. A Brand Guide or BrandManual plays an integral role in protecting brand standards and ensuring consistency. FranSource crafts these Manuals to be easy to understand and simple to use. All components of a brand are shown and explained, with correct and incorrect applications demonstrated.

They include the company’s brand positioning, mission, and vision statements; examples of messaging copy points, style, and tone; identity standards outlining identity system elements such as logos primary and secondary brand colors, typography, icons and other graphics, and imagery examples; plus design examples and direction for business cards, letterhead, envelopes, and presentations.

Recipes Manual

For food and beverage concepts, if required, we prepare a Recipes Manual that includes recipes, food preparation and cooking instructions, photos, plating specifications, and other related information.

Should I franchise my business?

There are many variables that a business must first consider before embarking on a franchise development program. As an initial step in determining the viability of franchising your business, we invite you to complete our 15 Key Questions Franchise Quiz.

Take the Quiz

Become our next franchising success!

Read testimonials from clients who chose FranSource to be their franchise consulting company.

"Working with FranSource has been a fantastic experience! Their clarity, organization, and attention to detail gave us complete confidence every step of setting up our franchise operation."

“With FranSource overseeing the entire development of our franchise operation, we were confident that our franchise would be successful. However, seeing is believing. We just awarded another multi ...

"I can’t speak highly enough of the FranSource team. They retooled our franchise development process after we worked with another franchise developer that provided a cookie-cutter approach that was too generic for our needs."

“We granted our 150th ALOHA franchise last week and we wanted to say thank you for your team's tremendous assistance and ongoing support. When we began the franchise project, it quickly ...

"We chose to work with FranSource because of their deep understanding of franchising and the personal interaction we were confident we would receive. FranSource helped us to ...

"In addition to fully developing our franchise operation, FranSource assisted with other aspects of our expansion program. We are very pleased with the franchise development services we received and the ongoing support ...

"When we made the decision to expand our business through franchising, we knew that we needed to work with a franchise consulting firm who fit our brand. We interviewed several franchise development companies ...

"FranSource has impacted our business in ways we never imagined, beyond simply franchising. Rather than taking a cookie-cutter approach during the franchise development process, they ...

"I interviewed three different franchise companies and picked Fransource to assist us. I would recommend any prospective client to consider working with FranSource, you will not regret it!!!"