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You may be surprised to know this, but many smaller companies are franchises of larger organizations. It's worth mentioning that the majority of franchise businesses are primarily found in two broad categories of industries: the food industry, particularly fast food, and the retail industry.
According to a Franchising Economic Outlook, the franchise business is expected to reach $839.3 billion in 2024, marking a 4.1% increase. The franchising model continues to expand, making a franchise management system essential for companies.
As anyone who has tried to manage a multi-location business, especially a franchise, knows, it's not an easy task. Given the myriad of daily tasks and activities required at each location, managers often seek support through franchise software and technology.
The most effective restaurant franchise management software efficiently handles all routine multi-unit restaurant operations and allows the franchise owner to have full oversight of each branch. Some franchise management software even includes advanced features like GPS, enabling owners to track the location, time, and odometer readings of employees in real time.
As the name suggests, this powerful tool enables franchises to control sales and inventory effectively. It can create an integrated omnichannel customer service interface that is accessible via an internet connection from any location. New franchise software for multi-location franchises is set to revolutionize franchising as we know it, serving as the central hub for multi-unit restaurant operations for the main company and its multi-store franchise network. This allows retail companies to maintain a real-time record of their sales.
With so many software for franchises in the market, it can be quite hard to pick just one. To help you with the process, we have curated this comprehensive guide to finding the right franchise management software for your restaurant business.
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Available for up to 5 users
Premium for $99/month for the first 20 users (with free trial period)
Available on iOS, Android and Web
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What is a Restaurant Franchise Management Software?
A franchise management system is an end-to-end solution to the management of a franchise system with comprehensive and integrated solutions to all franchise functions within the network. Used in franchises, the system contains the different aspects of franchise sales and multi-unit restaurant operations, people management, franchise CRM, and inventory.
Restaurant franchise management software is an application that allows franchisers and franchisees to be more communicative and interact on issues concerning marketing, sales revenue, branding, franchise CRM, stock and inventory, lease payments, and reports among other issues of business.
In this process, the franchise software supports franchisers in the hiring of more franchisees, the conversion of leads into customers as well as in the constant monitoring of the retail market performance with the help of real-time analytics and the optimization of multi-unit restaurant operations. Having integrated communication based on emails and notifications, the program assists in the unification of franchise sites.
Why do You Need a Franchise Management Software?
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As a franchise owner, you may be well aware of the challenges associated with overseeing numerous franchise locations, particularly if they are dispersed across the nation or the world. How do you make sure you continue the effective multi-unit restaurant operations and high standards of quality that your headquarters upholds?
Using restaurant franchise management software to automate tasks like staff scheduling, inventory management, field management, reporting, and other functions is one approach to guarantee seamless multi-unit restaurant operations management.
The following explains the necessity for restaurant franchise management software in your company:
Increase Inventory and Supply Chain: With the use of restaurant franchise management software, you can accurately estimate your inventory levels in real time by viewing the data about your inventory in a dashboard. Minimum and maximum inventory levels connected to the supply chain can be used to place purchase orders.
For instance, providing your franchisees with access to historical data and seasonal trends through an automated stock replenishment platform that can be utilized across your franchise chain.
Franchise CRM: Customer service excellence in each of your franchisee locations plays a critical role in retaining customers. Franchise management software keeps track of employee training, loyalty programs, and product promotions in a dashboard to assist you manage customer relationships and attract new customers to your stores.
Take franchise CRM software, for instance, which uses sales data and customer feedback to track in-store customer interactions.
Quality Management: Using checklists and audit standards from the industry, restaurant franchise management software assists you in keeping an eye on the inspection of your franchise locations. The franchise software keeps track of previous inspection data from your outlets and compares it to any incompetence in inspections.
This data allows for significantly faster in-person inspections of your outlets because it allows for the comparison of past and current data to identify and map out any inconsistencies.
Marketing: Your franchisees can develop their own exclusive marketing initiatives through franchise management, which they can then share with the corporate office and other franchise locations. Choose a tool that can assist you in improving, tracking, and configuring marketing campaigns in real-time.
Features to Look for in a Restaurant Franchise Software
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Reliable and effective franchise software is essential for franchises. It can have a significant impact on multi-store location management. The following are essential attributes that owners of franchise businesses should search for:
1. Multi-store Management
You can monitor and control franchise operations with multi-store management abilities. It consists of a customer database (across locations), sales, and inventory. It enables you to monitor business performance and store-level trends.
Multi-unit management capabilities also include the use of real-time reporting tools, which makes it possible for them to come up with detailed reports at the event time. A franchise management system allows owners to change promotions and prices of the products within a single click for many stores at one time which makes the franchise operation more effective and flexible.
2. Inventory Management
A restaurant franchise management software provides tools for tracking inventory everywhere. It involves managing suppliers and keeping track of sales, stock levels, and reorder points. To satisfy consumer requests, you can make sure the appropriate products are stocked. With the multi-location inventory capability, you can receive item alerts. When stock is low, it notifies you right away.
3. Checklist and SOP Generator
Checklists and SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) generators can be incredibly beneficial in franchise management. These tools help standardize operations across all locations, ensuring that each franchise adheres to the same processes and quality standards. By using checklists, franchisees can systematically track daily tasks, ensuring nothing is overlooked, which is crucial for maintaining consistency across multiple locations.
An SOP generator allows franchises to create detailed, step-by-step instructions for various multi-unit restaurant operations, from opening and closing procedures to inventory management and customer service protocols. This ensures that every team member, regardless of location, is following the same guidelines, leading to uniformity in service delivery and operational efficiency.
4. Employee Management
A more effective way to manage employees and their workloads is through the employee management tool. You can track an employee's performance using a franchise management system. You can additionally manage their schedules, create payroll records, and keep track of their hours worked. It enhances performance, lowers labor expenses, and maximizes the workforce.
5. Customer Management
This feature examines consumers' purchasing patterns in an effort to retain them. These trends align with the device sales strategy. Owners of franchise businesses oversee the profiles of their clients. They quickly analyze reviews and feedback and build loyalty schemes.
6. Payment Facility
Digital transactions are ubiquitous in today's environment. Mobile payment systems like Samsung Pay and Apply Pay are supported by the greatest franchise software. With the ease of mobile payments, customers may make immediate purchases.
7. Third-Party Integrations
Franchise software should be able to interface with other business technologies, such as franchise CRM, through third parties. Workflow automation and operational streamlining are the main objectives of the franchise. Reducing manual data entry and enhancing data accuracy are further benefits.
8. User-Friendly Interface
Owners of businesses favor using tools with intuitive user interfaces. To save on training expenses, the franchise management system should be simple to use. Additionally, it will facilitate quicker transactions and shorter wait times for customers.
9. Sales Reporting
The analysis of the sales data is aided by the sales reporting tool. To obtain insights, owners can monitor sales by product, store, location, and customer tendencies. Franchise owners have access to sales data on their best-selling items. In order to make wise selections, they can also recognize the advantages and disadvantages.
Benefits of Choosing a Restaurant Franchise Management Software
Using restaurant franchise management software in your restaurant has several advantages:
Streamlining Operations
Software for managing restaurant franchises is excellent at automating several manual tasks, especially those related to operations management. The centralization of multiple site management onto a single platform streamlines operations for both franchisors and franchisees.
This implies that updates and modifications, like alterations to vendors or inventory, can be made just once and immediately spread to every location.
Franchise operators can be granted a plethora of specialized permissions by management, allowing them to view and operate just the locations they oversee.
Maintain A Consistent Brand Image
Franchise businesses keep a single, unified brand image for every location. In the event that a franchisee needs to rebuild their brand image, the head office will create brand templates for them, which they can then tweak if they so choose.
Promoting Consistency Between Franchise Locations
Maintaining uniformity is crucial in a franchise business. Uniformity in day-to-day operations is facilitated by software designed specifically for franchise management.
The aim is to guarantee that every franchise location offers the same experience, from scheduling to data management to even standard operating procedures. This constancy establishes clear expectations for clients and strengthens the brand of your franchise.
Inventory Management
Maintaining the availability of materials and supplies while keeping costs under control depends heavily on effective inventory management. By offering automated ordering, supplier management, and comprehensive inventory tracking, the software can assist franchises in cutting waste and streamlining their supply chain.
Employee Management
Overseeing multiple teams in multiple locations can be quite difficult. Franchise management software increases labor cost control and worker productivity by streamlining payroll, performance monitoring, and staff scheduling.
Improving Data Management
Software for managing franchises provides useful information on sales patterns, consumer behavior, and other important parameters.
With the use of this information, franchisors can compare the performance of various franchise sites or modify employee performance in an educated manner. All of the information is conveniently available via a single dashboard.
Reporting and Analytics
Making educated decisions requires having access to thorough reporting and analytics tools. With the use of comprehensive reports on sales, inventory, and other operational details produced by restaurant restaurant franchise management software, owners can spot patterns and areas for development.
Additionally, it provides thorough labor statistics to aid in monitoring staff performance.
Cloud-Based Accessibility
Due to the cloud-based nature of many modern restaurant franchise management software packages, owners and managers can access vital information from any location with an internet connection. This accessibility is especially useful for remote performance monitoring of restaurants and impromptu decision-making.
Better Sales Mean Better ROI
In a franchise chain, more outlets represent more revenue, but they can also compensate for a lack of outlets. Customer loyalty, customer tracking, unique sales promotions, gift cards, coupons, and store credit are examples of interactive capabilities provided by restaurant franchise management software.
Tips for Choosing a Restaurant Franchise Management Software
We've covered the advantages of restaurant franchise management software and now offer some advice on how to select the ideal franchise management software for your company. When looking for new software, keep these three things in mind.
Evaluate Scalability
Fast and simple growth is one of the main reasons restaurant owners consider franchising for their enterprise. That's precisely why franchises are created, and strong restaurant franchise management software should help with that. It's critical to assess the software's scalability and determine how it can assist you in growing your company. A key feature to consider is comprehensive reporting. With the help of robust reporting tools, you can compare all of your locations side by side and see how each new site performs.
Consider Customization Options
Franchises function rather similarly to one another, however depending on the market they are in, they can differ from one another. A unique franchise management tool is needed for a small business that wants to grow and franchise exclusively in the United States as opposed to a restaurant that wants to franchise internationally. The franchise management tool should enable you to adjust in various ways, regardless of the market you're in.
One important element to look for in a franchise management system is menu customization. The capability to alter the menu and prices between sites is an excellent example of menu personalization.
Check for Ease of Use
It is imperative that the software used for managing restaurant franchises is user-friendly. Software that is extremely difficult should be avoided because it will need to be used by hundreds or even thousands of employees. If not, you may find that staff members find it difficult to adjust and become proficient with the software, necessitating more extensive training.
Given that Apple is renowned for its user-friendly hardware and that many people are already familiar with it, a franchise software system that utilizes Apple technology is a wonderful example of a simple-to-use franchise software system. It's difficult enough running a franchise; aim to make things easier (and not worse) for you and your employees.
Xenia for Multi-location Restaurant Franchise Management
Xenia is a cutting-edge restaurant franchise management software engineered to transform your end-to-end operations from the ground up. Designed with a mobile-first approach, it features an intuitive interface alongside a robust set of tools to manage your multi-unit operations.
This not only makes it easier to navigate essential menu items, but it also streamlines the complex processes of managing multi-unit franchise operations like never before.
At the heart of Xenia is its Centralized Dashboard, which delivers a full, 360-degree snapshot of your franchise's performance across all departments. This software allows you to easily track jobs, maintenance, and team performance in real-time, ensuring that nothing is neglected.
Say goodbye to time-consuming manual processes—Xenia simplifies job management and audits with a selection of customized operations templates. It also provides vital updates and insights while you're on the go.
Furthermore, the software's dedicated reporting and analytics tools provide actionable data right at your fingertips, allowing you to confidently make informed decisions.
What truly distinguishes Xenia is its capacity to generate precise franchise tasks, assign them, and simply track completion, whether for a single site or a large network of multi-location franchise operations.
The outcome? Xenia provides improved accountability, simpler processes, and increased operational efficiency—all in user-friendly packaging.
Key Features
- Effortless Multi-Location Management: Benefit from consolidated reporting, which provides a comprehensive view of your whole facilities network to boost efficiency and facilitate informed decision-making.
- Store Tasks and Work Order Management: Delegating work should be simple if it is done swiftly and with careful attention to accountability and procedural adherence.
- SOPs & A.I. Assistant: AI combined with drag-and-drop templates can revolutionize the way standard operating procedures (SOPs) are managed for stores, documentation, and communication.
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- Smart Inspection Workflows: To ensure peak performance, quickly make adjustments and enhancements utilizing integrated conditional logic, such as fixing incorrect inspection steps.
- Task Scheduling: You can rapidly identify any loose ends, go over missed deadlines, and identify the root causes of issues by routinely monitoring procedures.
- Chats: Communicate with every team member right away, from line employees to management, to ensure that everyone is informed about important developments and in agreement.
Pricing
- Free Forever: Free trial for up to 5 users
- Starter: $99 / month for 15 users
- Premium: $199 / month for 15 users with unlimited access to all the core features
- Custom: Need something tailored to your organization?
Get Your Quote
Final Thoughts
Managing a franchise requires careful balance, but with the right resources, it's alot easier. If you want to manage your staff more efficiently and simplify operations down to the branch level, restaurant franchise management software is a must.
Franchise management systems like Xenia with cutting-edge features are utilized by leading franchisors worldwide. To improve workforce management, Xenia offers essential features like real-time updates, improved workflows, reporting, analytics, and more.
We hope that this guide to choosing the right restaurant franchise management software help you find the ideal system for your business.
Streamline Food Safety, Maintenance and Daily Operations with Xenia
Xenia unifies food and beverage operations with tools to standardize, track and measure work across every team, asset and facility.
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Our customers love Xenia's robust use cases including:
Food Safety Management
🌡️ Automatic Temperature Monitoring
Xenia leverages temperature sensors that utilize both Bluetooth and LoRaWAN technology to transmit data reliably to your Xenia account. The monitors work continuously in a range of 40°C to 125°C and an accuracy of +/- 0.4°C. When an temperature deviates from a pre-set acceptable range, management is notified to investigate and resolve.
🔎 Smart Inspection Workflows
Xenia's operations template builder has built in conditional logic into each step. This allows you to trigger actions based on a form response such as creating a corrective action on a failed inspection step, sending a notification to management for out of range meter readings, and much more.
✨ Corrective Actions
Operationalize inspections with fast work order assignment arising from a failed inspection step. All corrective data is stored in the checklist submission for auditing and accountability.
📋 Compliance Reports
View live dashboard summaries of tasks, employee performance, template submissions and more. Filter, organize and export compliance reports to PDF and Excel formats to simplify compliance management.
Maintenance Management
🛠️ Work Orders
Create work orders with associated team, asset, location, priority, category and due date. View live progress reports on each work order, chat with teams, and review resulting template submission, images and notes to improve operations.
🧰 Preventive Maintenance
Create a preventive maintenance calendar to ensure asset uptime is not compromised. Attach images, templates, videos and notes to every task and assign to a team or individual for completion.
📲 QR Codes
Generate and attach QR codes to equipment and facility locations to enable fast and accurate inspections and data logs.
📁 Equipment Work History
View work history for every asset and sub asset in Xenia. Review performance data and enable corrective actions to improve your operation.
Daily Operations
✔️ Checklists & SOPs
Create checklists, SOPs, Inspections and Data Logs to power accountability, training and staff clarity on every task.
📆 Recurring Tasks
Create recurring schedules for review meetings, inspections, cleanings and more.
💪 Team Accountability
Defeat pencil whipping and disorganized responsibility assessments by standardizing operations with Xenia. Track time, collect photos, send messages and ensure high quality work.
📊 Team Performance Reporting
Use Xenia's analytics dashboards to view staff work reports. Filter by asset, location, category or due date and export the report in PDF or Excel
Streamline End to End Operations With Xenia's Digital Solutions
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Xenia unifies BOH and front-ended food and beverage operations with tools to standardize, track and measure work across food business platforms.
Our customers love Xenia's robust use cases including:
🌡️ Automatic Temperature Monitoring
Xenia leverages temperature sensors that utilize both Bluetooth and LoRaWAN technology to transmit data reliably to your Xenia account.
The monitors work continuously in a range of 40°C to 125°C and an accuracy of +/- 0.4°C. When an temperature deviates from a pre-set acceptable range, management is notified to investigate and resolve.
💪 Team Accountability
Defeat pencil whipping and disorganized responsibility assessments by standardizing operations with Xenia. Track time, collect photos, send messages and ensure high quality work.
✔️ Digital Restaurant Checklists & SOPs
Create checklists, SOPs, Inspections and Data Logs to power accountability, training and staff clarity on every task.
🔎 Smart Inspection Workflows
Xenia's operations template builder has built in conditional logic into each step.
Doing so allows you to trigger actions based on a form response such as creating a corrective action on a failed inspection step, sending a notification to management for out of range meter readings, and much more.
🛠️ Work Orders
Create work orders with associated team, asset, location, priority, category and due date. View live progress reports on each work order, chat with teams, and review resulting template submission, images and notes to improve operations.
📋 Compliance Reports
View live dashboard summaries of tasks, employee performance, template submissions and more. Filter, organize and export compliance reports to PDF and Excel formats to simplify compliance management.
📊 Team Performance Reporting
Use Xenia's analytics dashboards to view staff work reports. Filter by asset, location, category or due date and export the report in PDF or Excel
📆 Recurring Tasks
Create recurring schedules for review meetings, inspections, cleanings and more.
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