Franchise opportunities still high after downturn

Ian Krawitz Head of Intelligence 10 THOUSAND FEET
How to make the best   of franchisee satisfaction findings

Ian Krawitz | Head of Intelligence | 10 THOUSAND FEET

The past year has not been a pretty picture as it carried significant declines for key businesses and slumps in consumers' wealth. Despite the rough time, the 10 Thousand Feet franchisee satisfaction study showed how the Australian franchising industry endured steadily throughout 2009, thanks to franchisors effort to better understand the needs and concerns of their franchisees and the needs of prospective franchisees looking at a range of different franchise opportunities.

Support crucial for improvement

As we stride into 2010, we have tried to outline what drove the rise in the level of franchisee satisfaction in 2009, taking some tangible examples offered by the topfranchise best improvers chart to see which franchise opportunities to keep an eye out for in 2010.

Many franchise businesses not only managed to hold up during the recent downturn, but significantly improved their franchisees satisfaction in some key areas. Looking deeper into the data, there seems to be no doubt that the increased satisfaction was driven primarily by better support offered by franchise head offices.

In comparison to 2008, franchisees in 2009 claimed to receive better guidance through problems, have more opportunities to develop their skills, and more frequent contacts with franchise support staff.

Details into the top 5 Best Improvers: taking a closer look at the companies which improved their performance the most

Bedding specialist Snooze achieved the three best single improvements, thanks to the increased willingness (up fifty eight percent ) of their franchisees to recommend being a franchise to a friend or a colleague, to renew their franchise agreement beyond the current term (+52%) and their satisfaction with support staff mentoring and guiding them through problems (+38%). Snooze not only achieved the three single biggest improvements, but took out the spot for the best overall improver, with their franchisees global satisfaction up by 17%.

Substantial progress in the support area was vital for Gametraders in securing the second place for the highest single improvement, with their franchisees being more satisfied about the value for money of their royalty fees (+36%) and opportunities to develop personal skills (+30%).

Mr. Rental's franchisees boosted their keenness to recommend their business (+32%) and guaranteed the electrical and white goods renting franchise a spot on the podium with the third best improvement amongst franchise opportunities. Mr Rental's franchisees rise in willingness to recommend the franchise opportunities coming down to a series of incremental improvements across the business.

The financial franchise sector has seen saw its franchisees satisfaction climb steadily throughout 2009, with Mortgage Choice and ANZ Mobile Lending taking out the 4th and the 5th most improved place respectively, with noteworthy improvements for the franchise opportunities respectively in frequency of support staff contacting the franchisees (support: +29%) and possibility to sell the business for a good return of investment (rewards: +29%).

The two financial franchise businesses did not seem to be particularly affected by the turmoil; on the contrary, they registered a considerable progress in overall satisfaction across the board (+12%).

To find out more about the Best Improvers refer to the "Improvers" tab on the home page. To find out more about Franchise business opportunity refer to the A-Z franchise listing.