A big part of being a franchisor is being a leader – a leader of your brand, of your corporate team, and of your franchisees. Being a leader is a lot of things but one thing it is for sure is taxing on your mindset!

With so many challenges being thrown at you and so many people looking to you as an example, it’s imperative that you have a strong, positive mindset and (even more importantly) the strategies to continuously work on your mindset to help you achieve franchise success.

Mindset is not just about how we feel, it’s also about how we think about challenges that come up, how we address tough conversations, and the way we communicate. 

That’s why I want to share some of the mindset work that can help you increase franchise success and your overall system performance. Including how exactly it helps, and what tools you can use to work on your mindset each day.

Why mindset matters!

At AC Inc, our team works with emerging and established franchisors on optimizing their system performance. These franchisors hire us to support them with the technical side of their business (which is of course extremely important!)

But what we often see as we help franchisors increase their franchisee engagement and profitability is that franchisors can have a lot of limiting beliefs that are holding them back from taking even bigger moves in their business.

Examples of limiting beliefs include…

• Feeling like they need to be perfect
• Comparing themselves to others
• Not feeling like they’re “good enough” to be in their role

Yes – even franchisors with hundreds of units have these feelings and thoughts. 

In full transparency, I’ve had those awful feelings outlined above and they did NOT lead to more franchise success. Spending time working on my mindset in my years as a franchise owner and now as a CEO have been a big part of the success I’ve seen throughout my journey.

As a franchisor, working on your mindset can help you change those limiting beliefs and instead start focusing on…

• Feeling unstoppable
• Having a can-do attitude
• Abundance mode

And if you’re starting to think this all sounds a bit fluffy – read this next section to understand exactly how working on your mindset will help you achieve success and growth. 

How the right mindset leads to franchise success

When we are feeling fired-up, abundant, and driven, we get more done, make more growth-focused decisions, and worry less about what others think.

That’s the short version! 

Here’s a bit more context… When you have the right mindset you experience your life and the world around you differently. Think about the last time you took a great big leap in your business. Were you in an awful mood? Were you feeling insecure and grumpy when you made that decision? Probably not.

More likely, you were feeling a bit nervous but also brave enough to make the move and trust that it was the right decision. Having an abundant, can-do attitude helps us make those key decisions that grow our brands and lead to franchise success.

This is why mindset work is important (and NOT selfish) – because we need to be confident and influential as leaders and franchisors. Both things that are much more difficult when we’re feeling inadequate.

Examples of Mindset Work

You now understand the value of mindset and how it helps you achieve more success as a franchisor and leader. Next comes the implementation. 

When it comes to mindset work, half the battle is recognizing when your mindset is slipping into scarcity or fear mode. When you start to recognize those thoughts as they creep in it becomes easier to do the things that help shift those thoughts.

Set reminders on your phone or calendar to check in on your mindset. These could be affirmations, quotes, a reminder to stop and breathe, or even “mindset check”.

When you do catch those negative thoughts creeping in, here are some activities that can help you shift them into more abundant, focused thoughts…

• Move your body
• Meditation and prayer
• Gratitude journal (use an app, or pen + paper)
• Listen to a motivating Podcast
• Watch some inspirational YouTube videos 
• Read a few pages of a book
• Think about your purpose, your why, what makes you happy
• Wim Hof breathing or other breathing practices
• Switch to a new task (this can do wonders for mindset!)
• Get fresh air, ideally with sunshine!

Did you enjoy this blog post? Looking for some more support in your franchise journey? You should try one of our roundtables for emerging and established franchisors.

The AC Roundtables are a free resource we offer franchisors who are seeking collaboration and peer-to-peer learning. We’ve been running these virtual roundtables since 2020 and we always love to have new franchisors join us!

Try one of our free AC Roundtables