Corporate Control Runs Amuck
I was watching the boob tube last week and saw a segment on McDonald's. They had an interview with the founder, Ray Kroc, filmed many years ago. I found it interesting that he said that all of the good ideas for McDonald's came from the franchisees not from within McDonald's corporate. I remember a Radio Shack representative telling me something similar. He also said that some of the most innovative ideas in selling came from franchisees. Given that I am surprised that corporations continue to try to gain more control over their franchises. The corporations should make it as easy as possible for their franchisees to run their franchises as they see fit. One of the most blatant examples involves a store front sign. A gentleman was negotiating with a corporation about buying a franchise for a parts store. The corporation was adamant that they wanted the gentleman to spend $20,000 for a store front sign. I kept thinking that there must be some sort of mistake. Maybe the sign was $2,000 or even $200 instead of $20,000. Why would an sane person want to spend $20,000 for a sign for a business that people seek out because the business has items that are often not widely available? The negotiations did not go far. The gentleman in question knew that one of the most successful franchises for that corporation did not have one of those $20,000 signs. In fact they did not have any sign at all. I continue to wonder why the corporation didn't send representatives to the successful store to study why they are successful. The corporation could then put out a pamphlet of ideas from a very successful store. The other franchise stores could look at the pamphlet and adopt any ideas that they thought might work for them. I also feel sorry for the corporate representative trying to sell the idea of an expensive sign. Down deep inside he must know that the sign he is trying to sell is good advertising for the corporation but is almost surely not money well spent for the store. He is having to live a lie and is on the road to becoming a burnt out employee.Labels: corporate control, franchise, Store front sign
posted by MIB @ 1:20 PM
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