FEATURE etc., but let’s focus on the strategic el-ements here and how it applies to our profession. The practitioner who wants to par-ticipate in a franchise will be someone who wants to work in a collaborative environment and own their practice, yet have access to time-tested strategies and branding that meet their needs. Case #1 The doc approaching re-tirement: As I alluded to before, many chiropractors at retirement are closing their doors, referring out their patient lists and walking away with no financial compensation. A doctor at the end of their career may choose to join a franchise network to avoid this scenario and set up a proper succes-sion plan using the resources available with a franchisor. Franchisors usually have a list of people interested in the right opportunity, be it another chiro-practor, related professional, or as an investor. Case #2 The young doc: A new doc two to three years out of school and gaining traction as an associate may choose to move out to start their prac-tice, with the hope of building some form of perceived equity. Lacking a buy-in option to the existing business, or choosing not to, a franchise can provide that newfound ownership op-portunity while maintaining access to clinical mentorship, and business coaching. All the while controlling the message of what chiropractic is in their community. Case #3 The keen business doc: The keen business doctor has been in practice for 10-20 years, has maxed out their patient load, likely has one or two associates, a few massage therapists, and perhaps a second office. However, the daily slog of maintaining this cor-porate run operation alone is pushing them toward burnout. They want in-come growth, but they want to work smarter, not harder so they can spend more time with family. In this case, this doc may want to look at becoming a “regional master franchise.” Being a regional master franchise is the type of situation where the doc and the fran-chisor work together to develop a par-ticular market (such as small province or region), and through sharing 26 Canadian Chiropractor October 2019 responsibility, the new master franchise will share in the income stream of the region. This doctor would likely involve being a leader on a team of five to 10 other franchises. WHAT RESPONSIBILITIES DOES THE FRANCHISOR HAVE? Beyond the standard training pro-grams and clinic models, the fran-chisor needs to be held accountable for what is offered. One of the essential parts of an agreement on the part of the franchisor is to maintain KPIs (key performance indicators) to ensure the royalties coming to the franchisor don’t exceed the value to the fran-chisee. While franchisees have to hustle daily for their own business, it’s crucial that belonging to the group comes with the highest value. Essen-tially, if the franchisee provides a monthly royalty of $500 (example), they should be receiving referrals or support above this amount. In the health sector, franchisors should be providing consistent patient referrals to the franchised clinics, which may include contracts with third par-ties. Being omnipresent and attracting constant enquiries from the public to be provided to the franchisee is imper-ative. Further, a well-developed online network will develop referral streams from one franchisee to another. The franchisor should also offer access to its high-level list of contacts. Breaking into various organizations alone can often be difficult, but when you have a multi-skew format (a company that provides many services), it becomes much more manageable. A franchisee should be able to receive contacts and advice for sports teams, companies for lunch and learns, and reduced costs on continuing education benefits that ele-vates personal development. avoid such a scenario. While opera-tional standards are essential, some leeway should be provided to opera-tors to run their business in their market. There are fees attached to this rela-tionship. If it was just a bill, with no apparent value, that’s a significant negative. However, viewed as an in-vestment, with each dollar spent, there is a $3 return. Any money spent as part of a franchise should have a high value attached to it, and there should be data to back that up. If the value is less than expected or not there at all, that is extremely problematic. These issues should be mitigated long before an agreement takes place, if at all. A franchisor should have data to show how their clinics grow versus the mar-ket alone. Making significant changes to the legal structure of a franchise, such as selling it will require approval from a franchisor. Most contracts include a clause: “approval will not be unreason-ably withheld.” However, this is very subjective. (What is reasonable?) Life changes: people get divorced, they move, or partners fall out of favour. Making changes to a contract can be difficult. If both parties are in different corners, it may lead to arbitration or a legal problem. Some franchisors use brokers to grow. While rapid growth itself isn’t a negative, growth to such an extent where franchisors are taking anyone with a heartbeat and a credit card means they will not be able to main-tain the level of care or standards promised to the franchisee. Using brokers to sell franchises, while not a show-stopper, should warrant further inspection. WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? DOWNSIDES TO FRANCHISING Like any business model, nothing is devoid of risk, and there has to be the right fit for both parties. Some fran-chisors can be extremely strict with every part of how the business oper-ates, really handcuffing the operators. Sometimes this can become overly intrusive and lead to poor relation-ships and regret. Discussing potential partnerships with other franchisees in the organization is an excellent way to Moving the profession forward requires collaboration and teamwork, wrapped in the right form of consistent messag-ing. We need our docs to be successful from day one to retirement. The need in our community is great for chiro-practic. We need to focus it. There are many ways in which this is currently happening, to various scales. Franchis-ing clinics with a collaborative ap-proach nationwide is just one method, and numerous organizations are there to lead the charge. www.canadianchiropractor.ca
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