A good franchise operations manual outline takes on the hardest part about writing your operating manual which is getting started.

If you can take advantage of a good franchise operations manual outline, that is a great way to take charge of the process of creating this crucial franchising document. When you are preparing to franchise your company,  you will be one of the smart ones if you get your critical documents prepared before you do your first presentation to future franchise owners. For one thing, having your disclosure documents, your franchise agreement and operations manual all completed will make you ready for any questions that might come up.

Sadly, it is easy to procrastinate on writing these important documents. Many companies will contract out this important step in developing a franchise rather than turn to a franchise operations manual outline to do the job themselves.  This is an expensive way to go and it really doesn’t make sense.  Yes a franchise operations manual outline is usually quite generic but it gives you the framework to build a franchise operating manual that is fits your company. A consultant would never be able to pull that off because they would not understand your company the way you do.

Take the ball and run with it!

There is good news and bad news when it comes to the franchise operations manual outline. The good news is that a good sample of a solid operating manual can jump-start you in a big way to get this document done.  Your franchise operations manual outline will give you that skeleton that you can hang all of the important things that you want your franchise owners to know about your business on.

The outline can serve to stimulate your imagination because you have a clue about what is expected of you in writing this valuable guide.  That writer’s block problem of not being able to just get started can be vanquished by simply downloading a well prepared franchise operations manual outline.  You will find in this document the critical areas of operations that most operations manuals have.

The bad news is that the franchise operations manual outline is not a finished product.  You have to take the ball and run with it. But that is also good news because by writing your franchise operations guide yourself, you will do a great job with it because you will make sure that it covers everything that needs to be there to make each franchise line up with the look and feel of your company and to make sure every franchise owner is just as passionate about making your company a success as you are.

Do not be stingy in how much time you give to the process of customizing the franchise operations manual outline and turning it into a work of art that skillfully lays out what you expect your franchise owners to know.  Don’t expect a franchise operations manual outline to be industry specific.  The details about how your niche works and the specifics of how you and your franchise owners deal with vendors, employees and customers is all in your head.

The franchise operations manual outline simply gives you the tools to take that vast storage vault of wisdom that is in your head and get it all on paper.  It is an ongoing process. Yes, you will need to create a draft that is essentially “done” to get on with the business of launching your franchising operation.  But be prepared to continuously review and update the operations guide. Just as your business evolves and grows, so should your guide to how to run the business.  If it is a living and growing thing as your business expands and succeeds, that operations guide will remain the cornerstone of success for every franchise owner who joins your team.