Michael Gerber's Franchise Prototype Rule to Win #3: Place of Order

Michael Gerber gives his third rule on p. 102:

3. The model will Stand Out as a Place of Impeccable Order.

It's very simple, really. As he says, "at the core of Rule #3 is the irrepressible fact that in a world of chaos, most people crave order."

If the world was in chaos when he wrote this words, what about now? The pace of change doubles every for or five years. Your business, a world in itself, says to them, "Come on in and take off your shoes."

He quotes Alvin Toffler from The Third Wave, (New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1980) pp. 389,390, that in a world of chaos, people need fixed points of reference. Starbucks provides this. MacDonald's provides this. Toffler says that in a world that is broken down, structure provides these fixed points of reference.

I remember a sales trip to Pittsburgh, PA, back in the 1980s. I couldn't figure my way around. The streets weren't marked. There was a gridlock of traffic. I couldn't orient myself. I knew where I wanted to go, but I couldn't get there from where I was. I was getting irritated and frustrated. Until I saw a McDonald's. I went in, got a soda, and chilled out. It provided what Toffler calls this fixed point of reference.

It's also about communicating credibility to customers in an unspoken way that's far more powerful than if you shouted it from the rooftops. It speaks credibility such that your customers come to their own conclusion, not hear something you said.

He goes on to say this in words better than mine on p. 103:

A business that looks orderly says to your customer that your people know what you're doing.

A business that looks orderly says that while the world may not work, some things can.

A business that looks orderly says to your customer that he can trust in the result delivered and assures your people that they can trust in their future with you.

A business that looks orderly says that the structure is in place.

What do you think of this? The goal is to produce more skilled entrepreneurs. Does this help? Tell me. Post a comment. I'd like to know.

Entrepreneurship informs all of my professional activities. Entrepreneurial ideas are their life's blood. For my ideas on entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for my ideas on writing and publishing, go to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com.

Michael Gerber's Franchise Prototype Model Rule to Win #1: Add Consistent Value

Gerber, p. 99, says:

1. The model will provide consistent value to your customers, employees, suppliers, and lenders, beyond what the expect.

I see at least two implications of this. First, with regard to customers, it's not clear what a customer is anymore. In the bad old days, you developed a product, pushed it out there, and people bought it (or not). Marketing was price, product, promotion, and the other "P" I can't remember right now.

Your business is really part of an extended enterprise which includes those other people and organizations Gerber includes in his list above. And one way you add value to your product is to include all these customers in the design of your product. Working together you develop "applications" which have added value and you can then charge for.

These days, people are only interested in paying for value. So you have to add value to your product if you're going to get people to pay for it. The process of getting paid for added value we call "monetizing," as in "Sounds like a great idea, but how are you going to monetize it?" This is particularly a problem with new, web-based businesses. You see all these businesses going under? I suspect a lot of them don't have a clue about this.

Second, you have to pay attention to the other people in your extended enterprise. Businesses aren't hierarchical, command-and-control type organizations. Well, many still are and many are in trouble. They're flatter, more interconnected, with more surface area. You have to add value for all of those folks if you're business is going to be all that it can be.

When Gerber wrote this, he didn't have on his radar screen all the social media and Internet tools we have today. But his words still ring as true as ever. That's because business hasn't really changed at all. Adding value to relationships is there today just as it was when LL Bean founded his company almost 100 years ago.

What do you think of this? I'd like to know. Post comment

Entrepreneurship informs all of my professional activities. Entrepreneurial ideas are their life's blood. For my ideas on entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for my ideas on writing and publishing, go to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com

Michael Gerber's Franchise Prototype Model

Michael Gerber discusses this model on pp. 98-113. Here's this from pp. 98-9. You should pay attention to it.

Pretend that the business you own--or want to own--is the prototype, or will be the prototype, for 5,000 more just like it.

That your business is going to serve as the model for 5,000 just like it.

Not almost like it, but just like it. Perfect replicates. Clones.

In other words, pretend that you are going to franchise your business. (Note: I said pretend. I'm not saying that you should. That isn't the point here--unless, of course, you want it to be.)

Further, not that you know what the game is--the franchise game--understand that there are rules to flow if you are to win.

1. The model will provide consistent value to your customers, employees, suppliers, and lenders, beyond what they expect.
2. The model will be operated by people with the lowest possible level of skill.
3. The model will stand out as a place of impeccable order.
4. All the work in the model will be documented in the Operations Manuals.
5. The model will provide a uniformly predicable service to the customer.
6. The model will utilize a uniform color, dress, and facilities code.

In future posts, I'm going to discuss each of these points a little bit. Each deserves a lot of attention because his words are golden. Pay attention to them.

What do you think of this? I'd like to know. Post comment

Entrepreneurship informs all of my professional activities. Entrepreneurial ideas are their life's blood. For my ideas on entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for my ideas on writing and publishing, go to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com