A huge part of running a franchise business is working with, and supporting, the people who become our franchisees. For them to be as successful as they can be, they need to be able to follow our model. It’s during this time that our model will also be rigorously tested and as a franchisor we benefit from investing time and resources in letting the feedback flow and strengthening the process wherever possible, whether that means tweaking the original processes or offering additional mentoring to our team.

At eDivert, we are very team focused and we believe that, as franchisor, we should take a hands-on approach to the business. However, as eDivert grows and our number of franchisees increases, we need to be able to focus on the right things at the right time, which includes growing the support team to make sure we capture and address everything that we need to.

Strengthening the foundations

A pillar of growth for eDivert is the work that franchise consultant, Krishma Vaghela, does. Krishma brings a wealth of experience to eDivert and is helping support the franchisees through mentoring as well as making sure we have the right infrastructure for our own growth and a robust recruiting process for future franchisees.

Having started and built the business initially pretty much single-handedly, it is valuable to have other people to bounce ideas off. With Krishma, we discuss potential and real challenges, which is always fruitful as she has experience of both sides of the franchisor/franchisee relationship, having been in both roles in her past.

Her guidance on systems and processes, training needs and growth potential is proving invaluable and makes her so much more than the traditional franchise consultant.

eDivert is excited that this important investment will mean all our franchisees get more mentoring and personal development time in the future. We can learn from her experience in driving a busy and growing franchise business and also feel proud that we are living our own values which include being ambitious but also attentive to people, whether they are clients or team members.

Someone to talk to

Another major element of additional support comes in the form of Imogen Bray, who is our office administrator and helps to prioritise our CEO’s time. As well as the usual admin support you’d expect, Imogen provides huge value in being the first point of contact for all the franchisees, including any new parties who might be interested in joining eDivert. This means she can signpost our existing franchisees to solutions, progress the applications of prospective franchisees and take care of most of the administrative work that needs doing in the office.

Getting Krishma and Imogen on board has been one of the main pillars in growing eDivert. We’ve now got a new office space and I am able to see that the business is running consistently and effectively even if my attention needs to be elsewhere.

As the business grows, more people compete for the attention from head office; this can create a backlog of issues. With a growing team onboard, all of the franchisees will feel they can speak to someone if they have an issue, either with technology or delivery. That’s key for everyone, right down to the franchisees’ clients and our own clients.