How to Maintain Resilience and Positivity

These 14 practical tips came from a group of Vision Personal Training franchise partners (pictured above) who workshopped the question, "What helps to maintain resilience and positivity when running a business?" While meant for franchisees, these suggestions are relevant to all of us!

#1. Identify and celebrate your successes and wins each week, no matter how small.

#2. Accept there will be some failures, and don’t beat yourself up if things don’t turn out.

#3. Focus on what you can do something about, and accept the things outside your control.

#4. Reflect on why you went into the business, and stay connected to this sense of purpose.

#5. Develop a plan with goals, and review this each week or month with members of your team.

#6. Spend time with other franchisees who have similar challenges, and share useful ideas.

#7. If you are in difficulty or not coping, get over your ego or embarrassment and ask for help.

#8. Schedule time off regularly to take a break. A few days at a time is better than nothing.

#9. Look after your team, and surround yourself with positive people who have your back.

#10. Maintain a regular lifestyle routine, including an exercise regime.

#11. Book recreational activities outside of work, so you can spend quality time with your family and team.

#12. Manage your energy levels by taking a rest, or a short break when you need it.

#13. Take the opportunity to listen to expert speakers that your franchisor makes available to you.

#14. Work on your emotional intelligence, and your ability to build healthy relationships with others. What a useful list. Feel free to share this amongst your own franchisees and team.

How to Encourage an ACE Mindset in Franchisees

The ACE Mindset is a scientific concept that describes a state of mind where franchisees are likely to Advocate or recommend your business, Commit to staying in the network, and Engage with your initiatives. Last week, as part of our Franchisor Excellence Masterclass, a group of senior franchisor executives workshopped the question "How do you encourage an ACE Mindset in your franchise network?" Here are some of the actionable strategies they came up with. It's a great checklist to discuss with your own management team.

- Collect and benchmark important KPIs so franchisees know how they are performing in relation to the wider group.

- Focus on what matters. Focus your support on helping franchisees master the things that will impact their long-term profitability.

- Encourage franchisees to spend their time wisely, both in and out of the business, so they can be as productive as possible.

- Use competitions and recognition programs to encourage franchisee engagement and to keep your culture positive and motivating.

- Ensure your field team is listening effectively to franchisees and what’s on their minds.

- Conduct well-facilitated meetings where franchisees have plenty of opportunities to talk and contribute their thoughts.

- Understand what motivates each franchisee, depending on where they are in their business and life journey, and adjust your support accordingly.

- Ensure there is clear understanding by the franchisor team and franchisees of the network’s future vision and goals.

- Have a regular rhythm for local, regional and national meetings where franchisees can regularly come together and feel a sense of connection.

- Have a strategic framework to identify top priorities and use this to guide collaborative working groups of franchisor executives and franchisees.

- Use online collaboration tools and virtual breakout groups to enable franchisees to share ideas in small groups.

- Use performance groups to enable franchisees to share data, set goals and hold each other accountable. - Ensure your operational systems and procedures are up to date, accessible and easy to follow.