Intranet Systems Fast Becoming Way of Life for Australian Franchisors

Franchisees have an insatiable appetite for information on how to better run their businesses. Yet no matter how much information and support you provide, they keep coming back for more; a good thing, considering your success is directly tied to their success.

Fortunately, today's technology offers a practical, cost-effective solution to satisfying franchisees' never ending desire for useful, up-to-date information to help them make the most of their business. Through the use of Intranet technology, franchise companies can provide franchisees with a 24-hour "lifeline" to virtually any information they might need for the business via a private, password protected website and support system.

In addition to providing a myriad of mission-critical business solutions, Intranets provide franchisors with freedom from worries of an overwhelming amount of franchisee issues and questions to resolve within the limits of the typical business day. In other words, why spoon-feed your franchisees information on a 9-5 basis when you can "post" valuable information accessible long after you've gone home? In an ideal world, franchisees would be able to always help themselves. With Intranet systems, that fantasy becomes reality.

In fact, today's Intranets are ideally suited to enhance communication and support between franchisors, franchisees, approved suppliers and company-owned locations. More than just secure sites where you can post the latest manuals, marketing materials, price lists and supplier information, today's Intranets are dynamic, content-driven sites that promote instant access to information and exchange of ideas. If communication is the key to building a successful franchise network, then Intranets are the key to building successful communication.

Already widely used by franchise companies in the United States, an increasing number of Australian franchisors are beginning to realize the benefits of Intranet systems, both for themselves and their franchisees.

For example, Quest Apartments (www.questapartment.com.au), based in South Melbourne, initially had reservations about implementing an Intranet. According to Nick Suraino, Franchise Manager, the company had anticipated more technical expertise than was actually required for Intranet implementation.

"Quest Apartments had been struggling with the concept of developing an in-house Intranet for about a year. In reviewing this project we anticipated a number of hurdles, including a lack of internal expertise to develop the project and a lack of resources to adequately support an Intranet," Suriano said. "However, we recently discovered and implemented an Intranet system that required no technical support on our part. It was also extremely affordable."

Benefits of Intranet Systems for Franchisees

--Simplicity: The beauty of Intranet systems for franchisees is ease-of-use. All that's required is a PC with a major web browser (like Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer) and Internet access.

--Information resource: An Intranet becomes a franchisee's primary resource for information 24-7, including training, marketing materials and operations manuals.

--Instant access: To look up a specific procedure or a supplier's price list, franchisees can do so immediately, searching by "keyword" to obtain instant results. This replaces the antiquated process involving bulky envelopes with hole-punched documents and sticky-notes to insert into their operations manual binder.

--Organization: With an Intranet, franchisees no longer have to spend valuable time accessing important documents, such as the most recent point-of-sale flyer that always seems to end up in a pile of endless paperwork. Instead, using the Intranet system, franchisees can access documents and pull them up on screen in seconds and in color. (Even more, they can view or print each document in whole or in part using an ordinary laser printer.)

--Keeping documents current: In days past, determining "which" supplier price list was the current price list was time consuming and confusing. With an Intranet, franchisees can be sure that the document currently available on the Intranet is the latest and the greatest.

--Reduced costs: Intranets can significantly reduce costs for franchisees and franchisors by virtually eliminating postage, printing and paper costs and significantly reducing telephone and fax tolls.

Unique Uses of Online Franchisee Support Systems

As an application service provider who develops Intranet systems (aka "Online Franchisee Support Systems") for a wide variety of franchise organizations, we've seen our technology applied in a variety of different ways:

--Camera-ready flyers, point-of-sale pieces and advertisements. With these documents posted on the Intranet system, franchisees can open the latest advertisements on screen and either print them in color or download them and take them to a commercial printer for professional printing.

-- Electronic submission of forms, including purchasing, royalty reporting, employee hiring, and local government forms. Finding the most current versions of these forms can be difficult in a "paper world." Posting electronic versions of current forms eliminates the risks of errors, misprints or fax charges.

--Obtaining the latest news and operational updates. With an Intranet system, franchisees can quickly and easily gain instant access to current business tips, pricing information, ad campaigns and announcements from management. When I was a franchisee, I barely had time to read the entire monthly newsletter. However, with an Intranet, individual news stories, announcements and memos can be posted on a daily basis, in full color and with greater impact.

--Enhanced communications and support. With an Intranet chat room or group discussion forum, franchisees can network with dozens or hundreds of other franchisees every day online to propose and refine ideas and ask and answer questions. In addition, suppliers can get into the act by conducting seminars and informational sessions online in front of groups of interested franchisees.

Sharing the Intranet Experience

George Yammouni, CEO of Mend-A-Bathroom Australia, (www.mendabathroom.com.au) said the growing franchise company has experienced tremendous cost and time savings since implementing its Intranet in August of 2001.

"Our Intranet system provides an effective communications tool in our franchise network and was extremely cost effective to implement," Yammouni said. "The greatest benefit of all is the savings in time, paper and money in not having to produce and distribute newsletters or manual updates. Now we can do it all electronically."

Intranets are slowly but surely gaining respect and appreciation among the Australian franchise community. In fact, PoolWerx (www.poolwerx.com.au), the largest Pool and Spa servicing network in the world, was recently awarded the Australian Franchise Council's 2002 Franchise of the Year Award, in part because of its innovative approach to technology with its newly implemented Intranet system.

"As a part of the judging process, we permitted the judges to enter into our Intranet site to 'see' what we make available to our franchisees," said Richard Mercer, CFO for PoolWerx Australia. "We believe that this definitely put us up a notch or two when being compared with other franchise system entrants in our investment range. With our Intranet, our franchisees have 24-hour access to our operations manuals and guidelines, as well as the collective knowledge of our organization. From the franchisor perspective, the best aspect of our Intranet system is that it is hassle free, simple to maintain and reliable."

Both franchisors and franchisees benefit from the ability to instantly locate information or network with other franchisees or suppliers online. Certain time efficiencies make an Intranet an invaluable tool over and above the cost savings.

Franchise companies who have implemented online support systems have done so in order to enhance communications and support for their franchisees. They recognize that technology is changing our world, and they've adapted it to accommodate franchisees that have real needs in the "real world". Franchisees welcome the technology because it's easy to utilize and it helps them better run their businesses. In the end, everyone benefits from technology that is simple, cost effective and straightforward.

So, say goodbye to the paper world and welcome to secure, electronic documents and communications. In the new millennium, Intranet technology is critical to your bottom line. No need to let the latest technology pass you by any more.

About the author: Daniel P. Martin is founder and president of IFX Intranet, the leading applications service provider for franchisor-franchisee communications systems. Martin has 19 years of franchise structuring and management experience (including hands-on experience as a franchisee) and six years of Intranet development and hosting experience. Since debuting its Intranet system in 1996, IFX has built, developed and hosted systems for more than 100 franchise organizations internationally. Martin has developed customized Intranet systems for such Australian franchise companies as Auto Brake Service, Australian Leak Detection, Quest Apartments, Termguard, PoolWerx Australia and Mend-A-Bathroom International.