Inside Franchise Business

Owning and operating your own small business can be tough. One of the benefits of choosing a franchise option, rather than starting from scratch, is the support you can access to help you succeed.

For many franchise options, that can include marketing and brand support, business administration services, compliance support, and buying and merchandising expertise.

One of the most important services available to 7-Eleven franchisees is one focused on the growth of the world famous brand in each individual store in the network.

According to Braeden Lord, 7-Eleven general manager retail operations, 7-Eleven has teams that work together with store leaders to focus on opportunities for sustainable business growth.

The 7-Eleven retail operations and retail specialist teams work alongside the brand’s more than 400 franchisees and 100 plus corporate store managers to continuously improve results in every store.

“The retail business managers are essentially dedicated business coaches who work with their group of stores to support them to achieve the potential of their businesses on an ongoing basis,” Lord said.

“RBMs work with their store leader to develop individual business plans for that store, with fortnightly meetings to check in, monitor progress and discuss any issues or opportunities the store leader would like to get additional help with. The RBMs are also on the phone or email when stores need help in between visits.”

In addition to the brand’s retail operations field teams, there is a dedicated retail specialist team who independently review and assess every store on a regular basis on the required compliance and store retail standards.

“Our retail specialist team provide a fresh set of eyes on each store and share best practice. It’s a trap that with your own store, or one you regularly visit, that you can get a bit ‘store blind’. The retail specialists visit different stores within their state and work through a standardised assessment protocol.”

The review looks at compliance and regulatory standards to ensure each store is operating safely and compliantly in line with community expectations and standards. It also reviews the retail standards the store is providing to ensure customers are receiving a consistently good experience.

These results are benchmarked to give every store leader an understanding of where their store sits, with stores who need more support getting more regular visits. The retail specialist team provide on the spot coaching during the review to explain the improvement opportunities in the store, and how the store can take action on those opportunities.

“The results of the review are shared with the store leader and their retail business manager. Alongside their financial and other reporting, the retail review results help inform the business plan, track progress and develop goals for how the plan might be achieved,” Lord said.

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