Supporting franchisees: how to prepare your head office

Running a successful company-owned outlet does not necessarily mean you are ready to support independent business owners. An owner will often solve problems instinctively, drawing on experience and personal contacts. In a franchise network, that help must also be available when the owner cannot answer the phone. Before signing your first agreement, plan head office support as a clearly defined service for franchisees, rather than a promise of ‘ongoing support’.

1. Define the support you actually provide

Start by listing the questions and problems currently faced by the manager of your company-owned outlet. Separate matters that require the owner's expertise from those that can be resolved using instructions or referred to an external provider. This will show you which skills and expertise you need to make available to future franchisees.

Prepare a catalogue of head office services. For each service, specify who it is for, what it covers, the contact channel and when the support process is considered complete. Instead of ‘management support’, for example, write ‘a consultation on organising the outlet's work, based on information supplied by the franchisee’. This description helps distinguish advice from taking over the business owner's decisions.

Divide support into three categories:

• Core: included in the agreed fee, such as explaining operating standards.
• Additional: commissioned separately, with the price or pricing method provided before the work is commissioned.
• Out of scope: matters that are the responsibility of the franchisee or their adviser, such as their own tax returns.

Do not, however, exclude head office responsibility for tasks you also promise in your offer. Prospective franchisees should be able to understand the scope of support without comparing conflicting documents.

2. Assign staff and assess capacity

Each type of enquiry should have a designated person responsible for it and someone to provide cover. Even in a small business, you need to establish who handles operational questions, who contacts the system provider and who decides whether to allow a departure from a standard. One person may fulfil several roles, but they should not remain the sole source of knowledge.

Estimate the workload using actual tasks. Over a chosen period, record the time spent consulting with your company-owned outlet, preparing responses, contacting service providers and checking results. Include tasks that franchisees do not see: organising enquiries, updating materials and handing cases over between staff.

Do not treat average handling time as a complete measure of capacity. Several outlets opening at around the same time, staff holidays or a recurring fault can create a surge in work. Check whether you could still deliver the promised support in those circumstances.

Head office costs should also account for the owner's time. If the owner currently provides advice without separate payment, that does not mean their work costs nothing. Before expanding the franchise network, establish who will take over these duties and how their work will be funded.

3. Set procedures for handling support requests

Choose one main channel for logging requests. This could be a shared email inbox or a simple ticketing system. A phone call may sometimes be necessary, but any agreed actions should be entered in the shared log. That way, someone providing cover will not have to start by reconstructing the history of the problem.

Distinguish between three stages: acknowledging receipt, starting the assessment and resolving the issue. A promise of a quick response is not the same as a guarantee that a fault will be fixed. Do not commit to a resolution deadline that depends on an external provider unless you have a corresponding commitment from them.

For support requests, establish:

• support hours and how to make contact outside them;
• urgency criteria based on the problem's impact on the business;
• the information needed to begin handling the request;
• a procedure for escalating the matter to someone with decision-making authority;
• rules for keeping the franchisee informed of progress.

For example, a question about how to interpret a standard should not have the same priority as a problem that prevents sales. At the same time, franchisees must know who can change a request's priority and why.

4. Align support promises with the agreement

In Poland, franchising is not governed by a separate, comprehensive statute, and a franchise agreement remains an ‘unnamed contract’ — one not specifically defined as a distinct contract type in legislation. Its legal basis includes the principle of freedom of contract under Article 353¹ of the Polish Civil Code. General provisions on performing contractual obligations and liability for failure to perform, or improper performance, also apply, including Article 471 of the Civil Code.

Depending on the scope of the relationship, Poland's Industrial Property Law and legislation on copyright, combating unfair competition, and competition and consumer protection may also be relevant. Proposed franchise regulations should not be presented as law already in force.

Describe head office services, their charges and availability in the agreement or an agreed schedule. Distinguish the obligation to provide specified assistance from any guarantee of the franchisee's business results. Also establish how completed consultations will be documented and how concerns can be raised. Changes to the scope of support should follow the law and the agreement, rather than an informal decision by a head office employee.

5. Test head office support before making promises

Run a support trial: prepare sample requests, route them to the designated people and check how responses are handled. Include scenarios where the owner is absent, information is incomplete or a case requires several people to work together. Assess not only speed, but also the accuracy and usefulness of the help provided.

Practical takeaway: before offering ongoing support, prepare a service catalogue, assign staff and cover arrangements, and set up a support request log. Promise franchisees only the help that head office can genuinely deliver.