The only way to become more efficient is to always seek ways to improve operations at the unit or outlet level. Nowhere in modern business is this more important than in a franchise organization. One secret to streamlining operations and eliminating weakness in a Franchise Company is to do constant evaluation and to ask the secret questions, Below is the question and some answers from a regional meeting in Portland, OR in 1999.

What ideas do you have on streamlining, or eliminating any potential weakness?

We do this in our company and quickly surpassed all competition and ended up in a race of our own blasting past the wannabes like a broken down Volkswagon with a ripped out clutch cable. Here is the response we got from one of our franchisees a former high-tech factory worker;

First, let me say, that with any professional service or process there is always room for improvement. My days in a manufacturing environment force me to think of "Continual Process Improvement". You can never be satisfied with the status quo; you always seek perfection. As you make improvements and solve problems, the little problems move their way up on the list to become the top priority. This is ongoing as you strive for perfection.

Awesome man indeed, and it stands to reason that when you are literally blowing away the competition much of this is due to the team you have flying your plane. In addition to this well-spoken philosophy he stated:

One idea for streamlining would begin with the start-up portion of the business launch. As the Car Wash Guys (our company) grows exponentially, speeding the process for new franchisees to launch will become more imperative. The numbers will become more attractive to a national financial institution and someone needs to step up to the plate to become the clear provider of financial solutions. There are currently leasing companies that specialize in helping hair salons start-up. They package everything making it easy for the operator to open their location.

We implemented this in September of 1999, with GMAC, US Bank, GE Capital and B of A. Our franchisee team member added this to the conversation:

Rates need to be competitive and the provider should offer a menu of services, i.e. loans, leases, etc. If they can do it for people cutting hair someone should be able to do it for The Car Wash Guys. Then there would be no need to shop around, as they would customize a solution based on the needs and resources of the prospective franchise. As this company grows the amount of money involved here is huge. The second part of this solution is assisting with growth. Maybe US Bank is the company. But I know in my market and others around the country, the banks are realizing they need to compete for small business dollars and improve personalized customer service. A willing leader which would help the Car Wash Guys could leverage their solutions and offer it to many other franchises since there are thousands out there. They could use the Car Wash Guys as a model and say to the public, look what we did! You should bring your business to us. The Car Wash Guys has many elements involved in the start-up and bundling them would simplify things a lot (truck, equipment, truck bed, etc.).

We solved this issue, which had perplexed some of our original franchisees allowing them to get the money to expand their businesses to meet their local customer demand. Think on this in 2006.