Characteristics of a Domino’s Franchisee

Domino’s Pizza receives an influx of franchisee enquiries over the New Year period from people who use this time as an opportunity to re-evaluate their options and change career. One month into 2005, the company has already received over 250 enquiries, around 46% up on last year and a staggering 285% up on five years ago.

Andy Cooke, Domino’s Franchise Sales Manager, comments, “We get many enquiries at this time of year from people looking for a complete change and a fulfilling new challenge”.

However, buying a franchise is not a decision to be taken lightly. It is recognised as one of the safest routes into business ownership, but the process requires as much research and planning as setting up in business independently. Prospective franchisees also need to be able to demonstrate the skills and attributes needed to be able to deliver a successful and well- managed business.

Domino’s provides some tips on the kinds of personal and professional characters franchisors look for in prospective franchisees, including:

Great communication and management skills: Customer and employee communication is an integral component of the job. Franchisees need to interact well with their customers and the local community for the business to grow. What’s more, being your own boss is impossible without a great team to manage and run the day to day operations. Franchisees should seek assistance from the franchisor in terms of people management skills, selection, training and retention of staff but there must be some natural inherent ability as your choice to franchise means you’ll be employing other people.

High levels of personal energy and tenacity: Being a franchisee involves taking on many different roles and it is important that you have the energy to juggle new and often challenging tasks. New franchisees will have to work very long hours, seven days a week, especially in the first years.

Business acumen: Accountancy, people management and marketing are skills that all franchisees will require. Running a pizza delivery store, for example, will be a totally new venture for many, but Domino’s offers training, support and advice on all of these areas. Large banks are also very helpful in offering practical business advice and existing franchisees are an invaluable source of information and support in the early days. The most important thing that Domino’s franchise candidates should have however is a real passion for pizza and great customer service.

Pizza People

Jeff Reid, Domino’s franchisee in Crewe, initially worked in Europe selling cars but really wanted to work for himself. He talks through his approach to finding the right franchise partnership, a decision he did not take lightly.

He says, “First of all I researched the benefits of following the franchise model, rather than setting up independently, and then investigated different franchise opportunities. I felt that Domino’s had the best value for money offering in terms of the initial start up costs, but more importantly, had the infrastructure and experience that would help me to turn a dream into reality.”

Jeff soon found that the life of a franchisee is very hands on and involves juggling many different tasks. He comments, “If you become a franchisee you are basically embarking on a career that involves the spinning of a lot of different plates! It is very important that you have great communication and management skills as you will have to lead a large team and keep them motivated. My average day is very hectic and I am constantly on the go so energy is a must.”

“My first couple of weeks as a franchisee were quite a shock to the system. A big bonus for all of the hard work was that during my initial weeks I lost over three stone! Luckily Domino’s prepared me for the experience by giving me the opportunity to work in an existing store before I opened my own premises.”

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