Your store operations manual is more than a set of rules because it makes your job easier and makes your store more profitable as well.

It is easy to think of your store operations manual as something that you are required to keep in the building so it sits on a shelf gathering dust from week to week.  That would be one of the tragedies of all time if you missed out on the real value that is buried inside that dusty old franchise operating manual.

Your store operations manual not just a boring set of rules that the franchisee wants you to know. Hidden away in that volume are guidelines and procedures that can address just about any situation you might run into in running your retail outlet. To ignore the gold that is hidden in the store operations manual is literally like setting out to reinvent the wheel. That document represents the combined wisdom and experience of the franchisee and of many skilled and very successful retailers. So blow the dust off of that puppy and crack it open.  You will be glad you did.

It is important to see the store operations manual as more than just your guide to how to stay honest in dealing with the mother ship that sold you the franchise. That store operations manual represents the safety vest for your employees who are on the front line of dealing with customers, managing inventory and interacting with vendors.

You do not want to leave those folks out in the cold.  Arm them to the teeth with a resource of information so they know exactly what they should do if problems or opportunities come up.  Give each employee a copy of the store operations manual and then they will have no excuse for not becoming employee of the month if they live up to that document.

If it has to do with making your franchise work, it is covered in the store operations manual.

Once you get a cup of coffee and start spending some time in the franchise store operation manual, the experience can be quite eye opening. Right there in that one document, right along side all the franchise information you could ever hope for are tips on how to deal with every imaginable situation in your retail setting.

The variety of areas of store issues that are covered in the store operations manual will turn that book into your Bible for running your franchise. It will cover everything from dress code to management of inventory to how to balance a till to how to fire a bad employee or promote a good one.  Perhaps the most important area of retail life that will be covered in depth in your store operations manual will be customer relations and how to bring in more customers and make the ones you already have love you even more.

No franchise retail owner or manager should let very much time go by between readings of your store operations manual. If you never looked at it, do it now. If you read it a lot, do it more. That information can take a troubled franchise and fix what ails it or take a great franchise and make it ever greater.

How to Prepare a Franchise Operating Manual

The franchise operating manual is the heart of any successful franchise business. This is one of the fundamental documents that blueprints the way every single operation in the franchise is executed. This manual should be prepared before your franchise business launches and can be refined as many times as needed along the way.

Writing a good franchise operation manual can be a challenging task. There are a lot of potential difficulties you may face especially if this is your first time writing similar documents. Here are a few tips that should help you get started.

How to prepare a good franchise operating manual:

• Keep in mind that the manual you are writing is like the Bible for your franchise business – it should include a detailed description of all good practices as well as information about the way every single aspect of the business operations. Make sure you have included all important details n the manual.
• Use simple, understandable language. This will ensure that the franchisees can understand what is written in the franchise operating manual.
  Write the manual in a way that you can edit and build upon later on. This is one of the documents that should change as the business grows and as business environment changes.
• If you are planning to grow internationally, you should take into account any local differences. You may need to prepare a different franchise operating manual for each one of the countries where you intend to grow.
• Get the manual reviewed by a qualified attorney or other legal consultant specializing in franchise issues. Once again, if you plan to expand internationally, make sure your overseas manuals are compliant with local laws and regulations.

After we have covered the main points that you need to keep in mind, let’s see which the main parts of any franchise operating manual are.

The nondisclosure agreement (NDA). This is one of the backbones of your franchise business. The agreement basically governs how confidential material, knowledge and information should be handled by the franchisees.

Timetable. The timetable is another fundamental part of your franchise operating manual. This is the section that explains the stages before a franchisee opens their business. For example this section may states what should happen 2 months before opening, 1 month before opening, 3 weeks before opening and so on. There is no standard way of compiling this section and you should tailor it according your type of business and requirements.

Staff policies. This section describes the way the franchisee will work – it covers everything from the way the business environment should look to working times and hygiene requirements. The office equipment and inventory can be included in this part of the franchise operating manual or in a stand alone section.

Business processes. This section of the franchise operating manual governs the way the business is executed. Working times, housekeeping, duties of the staff, inventory and equipment management, security and safety procedures are all described in this section.

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