An Operations Manual for Franchising in Colombia

A successful business does not always have instructions that someone else can follow. Before franchising in Colombia, turn your routines into an operations manual that allows others to replicate your service without relying on improvised explanations. Across a franchise network, this document should explain what to do, who should do it and how to recognise a correct result.

1. Define what the manual needs to cover

The manual is neither a sales presentation nor a collection of recommendations. It is a tool for putting the business model into practice. Start by identifying the processes that directly affect your promise to customers: opening, preparing to deliver the service, delivery, taking payment, cleaning and closing, as relevant to your business.

Organise the content around the outlet’s actual working day, rather than the company’s organisational chart. Someone opening an outlet needs to find their instructions without working through chapters on matters unrelated to that task.

For each process, define:

• Start: what event triggers the procedure.
• Responsibility: which role carries it out and who provides cover in their absence.
• Inputs: the materials, information and equipment required.
• Outcome: what must be completed and to what standard.
• Exceptions: when to stop the task or seek a decision.

Distinguish mandatory standards from suggestions. If everything is labelled mandatory, including irrelevant details, the document loses credibility. If everything seems optional, each outlet will end up interpreting the model differently.

2. Write instructions people can act on

Avoid phrases such as ‘provide good service’, ‘check stock’ or ‘get everything ready’. These express intentions, not instructions. Describe observable actions in sequence and explain what to do when the result is not as expected.

A procedure sheet can include its purpose, the person responsible, the steps, acceptance criteria, record-keeping and how to handle exceptions. Use your own photographs or diagrams where they clarify a physical layout, a sequence or a finish—not as decoration.

For example, instructions for receiving goods might require staff to compare the delivery with the order, check quantities and condition, set aside any items with discrepancies or defects, and record the discrepancy before adding them to stock. They should also state who decides whether to accept or reject a delivery and what to do if that person is unavailable.

Do not invent tolerances just to complete a template. Technical parameters must come from validated operating practices, applicable specifications or relevant regulations. Where a hygiene or safety requirement applies, identify it and have the procedure reviewed by a suitably qualified person.

Keep the procedure separate from its form. The former explains how to do the work; the latter captures the necessary evidence. Requesting data that nobody uses adds to the workload and encourages people to fill in records routinely, without checking anything.

3. Check that the instructions are understood

Before giving the manual to a franchisee, test whether someone can read and follow it. Choose a person who understands the role’s basic duties but did not write the document. The aim is to test the instructions, not an experienced employee’s memory.

Ask them to carry out a task using only the procedure sheet, with all necessary safety measures in place. Observe where they ask questions, what they interpret differently and what information they look for outside the document.

Record each difficulty in a simple list:

• An ambiguous step or one that is out of sequence.
• A tool that is mentioned but unavailable.
• An acceptance criterion that cannot be checked.
• A common exception with no defined response.
• A record that duplicates information.

Make corrections and repeat the task. A verbal explanation from the author may resolve the immediate problem, but it does not fix the manual. The solution must be incorporated into the text or the relevant visual aid.

Assign each procedure a code, a version number and a person responsible for its content. This allows anyone who spots an error to identify exactly which instruction needs reviewing.

4. Align the manual with the contract and applicable rules

In Colombia, a franchise agreement is an ‘atypical’ contract: it is not governed by a specific, comprehensive statutory framework. It is governed by the terms validly agreed between the parties and by generally applicable law, particularly the Commercial Code and the relevant civil-law provisions on contracts and obligations.

Guidance from the Colombian Ministry of Justice’s LegalApp service recognises manuals as a means of transferring know-how. This does not automatically make every internal instruction a contractual obligation. The contract should identify the applicable manual, its scope, how it will be supplied and the operational responsibilities it sets out in detail.

Nor should the manual be used to introduce charges, penalties or investment requirements that have not been agreed. Its purpose is to explain how to run the business, not to replace contractual negotiations. Its instructions must also comply with the rules applicable to the business, including employment, hygiene and consumer protection requirements, as relevant.

To get started: document one everyday process in full, ask someone else to carry it out and revise the instructions to address any uncertainties you observe. A short procedure that genuinely guides people is worth more than a lengthy manual that nobody can put into practice.