Mrs. Fields recognised as one of 2015's Top Franchises according to franchisees
Every year the Top Franchise Awards recognise best practice within the franchising sector across six categories; marketing, branding, passion, support, lifestyle and expansion.
Since entering the inaugural awards in 2008, Mrs. Fields has held a position in the Top 10 in at least one of the categories.
According to Ian Krawitz from Ten Thousand Feet, the research company who founded the awards, “The standout reasons for Mrs Fields Australia excelling in the Top Franchise Awards over the last eight years has been the support they provide to their franchisees and the manner in which they provide it. The whole head office team have a deep-rooted mentality of caring about their franchisees and being open and honest in their communications with franchisees."
"This passion for their franchisees stems from CEO, Andrew Benefield. Andrew’s coaching background is clearly in the fabric of their culture. For Andrew, it has always been about understanding what their franchisees are looking to achieve, listening to franchisees and customers to learn how they can get better as a system, having open dialogues with franchisees and then putting support structures in place to help franchisees achieve their goals. It doesn’t stop there, once a tactical plan is in place, the head office team is very good at ensuring they have regular follow up to mentor franchisees to their goals.”
“Buying the Mrs. Fields business was a big risk for us. Just like so many of our franchisees, we bought an existing master franchise from a US company and went through a very similar journey of choosing to take the big step and go into business for ourselves, so we understand the decisions our franchisees are making,“ Andrew Benefield, CEO, Mrs. Fields, said.
“Running a successful business can appear daunting; you have to know who your customer is, give them the best quality product or service at the right price to retain their loyalty, whilst recruiting, training and motivating your own team, keeping a top of expenses, complying with all the regulatory requirements, keeping up to date on government legislation and new developments in your industry segment, whilst watching your competitors and then finding time for your family and personal interests!"
"Whilst that can be very challenging, personally I find that if you keep it simple and just ask yourself: “If I was a customer or a team member, is that the way I would expect to be treated?” Then everything else is just part of the business game and the rewards can be fantastic, not just financially but also emotionally and physically,” Benefield said.
“Many of our franchisees remember visiting a store with their parents either here or overseas. One of our recent franchisees received care packages of Mrs. Fields cookies from her family overseas, before she realised she could own her own store."
The company said that its franchisees are offered a fixed price turn-key investment, so costs are known upfront before they proceed. The emphasis is on providing products that do not require a lot of labour to prepare, are high in margin and sell well. In addition, every year Mrs. Fields implement a number of initiatives to address requests noted in the franchise satisfaction survey.
Benefield said, "Our philosophy is about making our customers feel good through simple, special moments regardless of the occasion. Whether it’s a treating and spending some time with the kids, or enjoying a quiet blissful moment to yourself, our aim is for the freshly baked aromas and mouth-watering treats to provide a heart-warming and memorable experience to all our customers.”
Benefield advised that for a future franchisee should "make sure you talk to existing franchisees in the group and even some of the past franchisees listed in the Disclosure Document. It never ceases to amaze me how many potential franchisees do not do this. A franchise agreement is a long term relationship and you want to find out as much about your partner as you possibly can, before taking that giant step.”
