One of the key challenges facing any entrepreneur is how to realise big ideas about business growth, without substantial time or resource investment. The franchise model offers a major advantage for business people who can tap into innovative thinking, and access the latest models and tools, without carrying the cost burden alone.

That is best exemplified in the area of technological innovation. Consumers are increasingly turning to technology to organise their ives and make more of their time - it's crucial then that businesses focus on how they use innovation to reach and retain customers, improve their offer and stay ahead of competitors. Technological introductions however often involve specialist knowledge and major investment.

In November 2006, Domino's Pizza launched its latest technological innovation - Real Time. Service excellence and speed are at the centre of Domino's service promise, and the unique system measures and drives store performance by monitoring the time it takes from the moment an order is placed by the customer until the exact time the pizza leaves the store.

The system provides data on average staff performance, not only for individual stores, but across franchisee store groups and the Domino's UK and Ireland business as a whole. Updated every 20 seconds, the new technology has helped to significantly improve staff performance, which has directly impacted customer satisfaction and sales.

Jane Kimberlin, IT Director at Domino's Pizza comments, "Real Time has delivered wins on all sides - service is obviously critical in home delivery and the system helps franchisees to deliver the experience we promise our customers, while affording them more control over their own businesses."

"As we continue in the new digital age, business cannot afford to stand still. It's our responsibility as franchisor to equip our franchisees with the necessary tools and innovation to keep adapting our operations and ensure long term success."

Pizza People Having gone from part-time delivery driver to head of training for Domino's Pizza HQ, Tina Johnson used her wealth of experience to become the franchisee of a Milton Keynes store in January 2006.

Tina says, "I'm a firm believer in working with your staff to create new and innovative solutions to challenges in the workplace, but no matter how good your ideas are there simply are not always the resources available to implement them."

Tina's store in Milton Keynes was one of the first in the country to trial the new Real Time technology developed by Domino's. After a matter of weeks, the business benefits were clear. She continues: "Before Real Time, we thought we had good service delivery, but after the system was installed it became clear that there was still room for improvement.

"The team is never satisfied with average performance, we want to be the best at what we do. That's why Real Time has been such a success, because it's a great way to see how we compare to other stores across the Domino's group. It's about creating healthy competition to maintain top-notch customer service."

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