How to Succeed at Multi-unit Operations


Despite its lure of higher sales and profit the multi-unit operation is hard work and can be prone to failure. If you are not careful you may end up losing it all. In our previous blog we laid out the pros and cons of multi-unit operations. Here we will outline some of the steps you can take to make multi-unit operation succeed. I will say it again – operating multi-unit business is challenging. At the same time if you take care of the pitfalls that come with it you can not only succeed; but thrive.

The basic philosophy you have to adopt when moving from single unit to multi-unit operation is to take advantage of your scale; while at the same time standardize and apply the proven formula at multiple locations. These are the principles behind the concept of franchise; which is essentially multi-unit operation on steroids. If you want to learn how to succeed at multi-unit business; study how any franchise you operates.

Let’s look at the steps you need to take in more detail:

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How to Make Partnership Work


Statistics show that more than half of partnerships usually end up in failure. This is a reason enough to discourage many would be partners from getting into business with partners. However, it doesn’t have to be this way. Given sufficient precautions the partnerships can not only avoid failure; but can thrive.

There are a number of successful partnerships at a larger scale that have worked well. For example, the triumvirate at the helm of Google – Sergey Brin, Larry Page and Eric Schmidt has grown the company’s sales to more than $23 billion in 2009. So what makes a partnership successful and how can you use it in your situation? Below we have identified several traits of successful partnership from our own experience and that of others.
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How can you beat large business with deep pockets?

Customer Service
It is not only possible to fight with large business; but to win big in this battle. Are you the owner of small business that is fighting for customers and sales with the big, national chains? How do you win the battle when you know you are outnumbered in every way? I just found out how one such business is doing one customer at a time.
I was at the auto mechanic shop the other day to fix the coolant leakage on my old car. The service I received there made me think what it takes to make a first-time customer come back for the rest of his life. Let me explain…
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