After growing our franchise to 30+ locations doing over $42M in sales, I’ve learned this:
Every franchise is in the people business.
If your people are growing, your business is too.
That’s why coaching is one of the most important skills you can learn as a business owner.
Coaching is your ability to help other people to grow.
Using it, you can help your employees:
- Develop new skills
- Feel more meaning
- Step up into bigger roles
- Drive the business forward
When done right, coaching creates a flywheel effect:
Your team gets better → the customer experience improves → sales and profits increase → you can invest more in your team’s growth → your team gets even better.
And the cycle repeats…
Want to coach a high-potential employee into a new role?
Here’s the step-by-step process we use across our 30+ franchise locations:
1. Get specific on the skills they need to level up
Let’s say you have an assistant manager who wants to become a location manager. But you feel they aren’t ready yet. Ask yourself – why, specifically, are they not ready?
Go deeper than “they lack leadership skills.”
Break it down:
- Is it their ability to have difficult conversations?
- Make data-driven decisions?
- Hold the team accountable?
- Manage inventory?
Identify the 3-5 skills that are holding them back from being fit for that next role.
2. Outline a clear development plan
Sit down with the team member and walk through the growth roadmap.
Frame it as an opportunity for them.
“Hey [name], we think you have the potential to grow into [promotion].
You’re already doing great at [skills 1, 2, 3].
But to be ready for this next role, we’ve identified a few skills we’d like you to work on [explain room for improvement].
If you can make progress on X, Y, Z, you’ll be set up for success in the new role.”
Set growth goals together.
Then, give them the resources they need to build those skills –
- Connect them with a manager who’s mastered that particular area
- Share book recommendations
- Let them attend workshops
If you want to learn more about leading effective 1:1s, use this template.
3. Put them in the driver’s seat
Find projects they can take on to practice their new skills in a lower-stakes environment.
Let them drive the initiative, with you there as a guide.
- As they make mistakes, coach them on how they can correct from them
- When they start demonstrating the skills consistently, give them more ownership
For example, if you’re hiring a General Manager:
Level 1: Have them lead a team meeting
Level 2: Have them lead several shifts
Level 3: Have them lead a whole week
Keep expanding their scope as they prove they can handle it. Soon, they’re doing the manager role without you there.
4. Promote them – and keep on coaching
When they’ve shown they can:
a) Handle the role’s responsibilities and
b) Are performing at the required level
…officially promote them.
At this point, not much should change for the employee beyond their title. They’ve already been doing the job well.
Celebrate their growth! But keep developing them. Work together to identify the skills they need for their next step.
Remember – coaching is an ongoing process, not a one-time event.
Schedule monthly 1:1s with each of your team members to help them stay on track.
Your team will make or break your business. You’re only as good as the people you have in place. So learn how to coach them.
If you want more guidance from me on growing a successful business, there are 2 ways I can help:
If you want to get your first franchise business off the ground, consider booking a discovery call with my team.
And if you’re a driven franchisee and want to scale your business to 8-figures and beyond, consider joining my 8-Figure Franchisee community
Cheers,
Brian Beers
