Every multi-location business needs to effectively manage all locations and the brand, which is extremely difficult to do without effective technology behind your operations. With the help of the right franchise software, you can fully monitor and optimize your operations at every stage.
In this blog, Mark Hite, Director of Consumer Sales and Marketing, will explore some of the best franchise management software worth investing in across several key categories.
What’s Covered:
- Understanding the Digital Needs of Franchises
- Top Software Solutions for Franchises
- How to Choose the Right Software for Your Franchise
- The Benefits of Investing in Franchise Software
My Expert Opinion on Franchise Software
Today’s business management software makes it easier than ever to manage every aspect of a business, whether you run a small online business or a full-scale franchise with hundreds of locations.
However, not all franchise management software is the same, with many software companies popping up with offerings that might not be worth the expense.
The ideal franchise software will facilitate long-term franchise development and help you manage every element of your business, from your operations and marketing to financials.
Ultimately, the ideal software will make things easier, not more daunting than they already often are for franchises. Developments like AI, machine learning, and automation can fully equip your business with in-depth analytics and comprehensive reports and insights that guide you in the right direction.
Understanding the Digital Needs of Franchises
Franchises have unique needs compared to other types of businesses. They not only have to manage their branding and business on a broader scale, but they also need to manage each location and its particular needs based on each area’s audience and setup.
Over time, franchises can subsequently face many challenges around data consolidation, maintaining consistent brand standards, complying with local and industry rules and regulations, and generally keeping every aspect of business balanced.
Thankfully, certain technological advancements in franchise software now enable all types of capabilities across different types of tools. From management of all locations to lead generation, analytics, sales enablement, and accounting, contemporary software solutions can simplify most processes and allow you to focus more on franchise growth.
The key is to locate solutions that can streamline day-to-day operations and provide you with data that enables you to make informed decisions.
Key Software Categories for Franchises
There are several types of specialized software for franchises that can transform your operations, including:
- Franchise Management Software: This software helps to centralize operations across all locations while maintaining brand consistency.
- Franchise CRM Software: This type of software manages customer relationships from their initial point of contact to sales enablement across all locations.
- Franchise Accounting Software: Use these solutions to easily manage finances for all locations and maintain local to federal compliance.
- Franchise Reporting Software: Develop fully customized, real-time reports and implement benchmarking to determine your franchise’s growth.
Deep Dive: Top Software Solutions for Franchises
There is plenty of high-quality software for franchises that can meet each business’s unique needs. Using one or more of these solutions together can give your franchise what it needs for sustained success.
Here is a breakdown of some top solutions.
Franchise Management and Communication Tools
If you’re seeking reliable franchise management solutions for your organization and individual locations, or if you want to maintain effective collaboration across all teams, the following are among the best franchise management software on the market.
Connecteam
This fully capable franchise workforce management software helps to optimize operational efficiency, enhance communications, and boost engagement among staff.
Connecteam can help with communications through a unified communication network, cross-location standardization, in-depth feedback and insights, and centralized information for convenient management.
Some of the key features you get with Connecteam include:
- Employee Time Clock: Use automated timesheets to engage in smart time tracking based on when employees remotely clock in and out, with geofencing and GPS location tracking also included to maintain accurate time tracking.
- Task Management: Track and delegate tasks in real time, making it easier than ever to assign tasks with clear deadlines and gauge overall progress.
- Scheduling: A convenient drag-and-drop functionality allows for easy staff scheduling, while customizable templates further simplify the process and enable recurring schedules.
- Onboarding and Training: Implement quizzes, courses, and progress tracking to help onboard and train employees, allowing you to assess the knowledge and skills of each employee.
- Document Management: Keep all relevant employee certificates and records secure and accessible.
FranchiseSoft
This cloud-based franchise management software also keeps franchise management simple and streamlined, and it works for both franchisors and franchisees.
With FranchiseSoft as part of your software suite, you’ll be able to save more money on upfront software costs, scale your solution as needed, and benefit from a highly secure data management system.
The following are some of the main features you get with FranchiseSoft:
- Cloud-Based Convenience: Having data on the cloud keeps it secure and safe at all times while maximizing accessibility. In short, get a hold of your data anywhere, anytime.
- Full-Scale Franchise Management: Manage nearly every element of your franchise, including accounting, marketing, sales, and CRM, keeping everything running smoothly.
- Customer Loyalty and Sales Promotion: Use FranchiseSoft’s sales promotion and loyalty tools to bring in more potential customers and keep them coming back.
- Supply Chain and Inventory Management: Get a clear view of all your inventory in a single solution, which can help you decide when to purchase orders according to minimum or maximum levels, with supply chain management further optimizing efficiency.
- Holistic Reporting: See all of the data you need with complete reports that can feature custom elements based on your unique reporting requirements.
Accounting and Financial Management Software
You may also want to invest in franchise software that helps with accounting and finances. Integrating these tools can save you a lot of time and effort on maintaining finances while keeping your data both accurate and compliant.
Here are some of the best franchise management software to handle these business aspects:
Sage Intacct
Utilize this cloud-based financial management software to keep accounting processes optimized and get real-time insights into your franchise’s financials.
Sage Intacct will provide you with operational efficiency, scalability, optimized security, and real-time insights that can maximize efficiency and keep you compliant.
Check out some of the following key benefits of using Sage Intacct:
- Core Financial Suite: Take care of all primary financial aspects of your business, including accounts payable, ledgers, project accounting, and inventory control.
- Custom Dashboards and Reports: Develop your very own dashboards and reports based on your needs, including the key performance indicators (KPIs) you choose to track based on your goals.
- Advanced Functionality: Get several advanced features like inventory control, multi-entity consolidation, project accounting, and revenue recognition in the form of easy-to-access modules for increased automation.
- AI and Machine Learning: AI and ML combine to help boost automation across all accounting processes, keeping financials accurate while maintaining efficiency.
- Ample Integrations: Easily integrate Sage Intacct with payroll, CRM, HR, and other tools and systems.
QuickBooks
This accounting software is as helpful for franchises as it is for other types of business. It offers an easy-to-use unified platform for managing financial data for all locations, and it can help with streamlined and consistent finances.
With real-time insights, secure cloud-based systems, scalable solutions, and personalized, in-depth reports, you can use QuickBooks to keep your business balanced financially and in good standing with all regulatory bodies.
Key features that make this software stand out include:
- Comprehensive Payroll: Get help with payroll reporting, direct deposit, and payroll tax calculations with QuickBooks payroll services, ensuring you’re compliant with all tax regulations.
- Payment and Invoicing: Franchisees can develop and submit invoices, accept online payments, and track all payments for improved billing.
- Expense Tracking: Franchisees and franchisors can also use this tool to track all expenses, manage receipts, and categorize each transaction to keep all financial records and tax preparation accurate and simple.
- Inventory Management: Manage orders, track stock, and monitor all inventory costs, helping you maintain inventory levels at all times.
- Tailored Reports and Analytics: Custom dashboards and reports provide detailed insights into financials, helping business leaders make critical decisions and determine how to improve.
Reporting and Analytics Tools
One last type of solution to look at is franchise reporting software, which is integral for giving you all the data you need for informed decision-making and continual optimization.
Fathom
Meet all of your reporting needs with Fathom, which includes a whole host of features to help you get the most from your franchise performance reports.
Some great features that come with Fathom include the following:
- Fully Capable Analysis and Reporting: Develop custom management reports, gain access to financial analysis tools, track KPIs, use benchmarking to compare performance with industry competitors, and analyze the performance of each department, business unit, or location.
- Forecasting and Planning: See accurate cash flow projections with a three-way cash flow forecasting system comprising Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss, and Cash Flow Statements.
- Consolidation: View all of your business’s financial data from each location or another type of entity to gauge performance.
- Customization and Integration: Easily customize KPIs and metrics to align them with your goals, develop custom reports with visualizations and non-financial data, and integrate the solution with various third-party applications, including some of the most popular accounting tools.
- Collaboration: Interactive brainstorming allows you to collaborate with multiple teams to help with decision-making.
If you want to effectively track and use predictive analysis to help your franchise, Fathom can give you everything you need with both financial and non-financial reporting.
How to Choose the Right Software for Your Franchise
Before locating the ideal software for your business, there are several critical factors to consider:
- Ease of Use and Training: Good software will be easy to pick up and use, which is why you should seek out intuitive, user-friendly interfaces that don’t require much training to implement.
- Industry-Specific Reporting: Make sure the reporting software you use allows for plenty of customization, including the ability to develop reports that are specific to your industry, whether that’s in field service, retail, food service, or another specialization.
- Cost and ROI: Conduct a detailed analysis of each software’s costs and potential return on investment. Keep in mind that, sometimes, more expensive software is worth it if it means more cost-effective operations in the long run.
The Benefits of Investing in Franchise Software
There are plenty of reasons to buy high-quality software to manage your franchise’s operations at every level. In fact, without the right software, you could find your business and locations quickly flailing as you struggle to gain meaningful insights or improve performance.
Some specific advantages of incorporating the perfect software include:
- Enhanced Reporting: Reliable software will provide you with detailed reports with plenty of rich real-time data, insights, and visualizations to give you a clear window into performance. In turn, you can determine what’s working and what needs more attention.
- Improved Communications: Keep all of your teams communicative and on the same page with optimized collaboration and internal messaging capabilities.
- Better Customer Management: With centralized CRM functions that track the entire customer journey and eliminate bottlenecks, you can boost sales and customer retention.
Use Franchise Software to Its Full Potential
Getting high-quality, reliable software can keep your franchise on its feet, but you must also use it effectively. Even with the best solutions, you may not have the experience, time, or resources to manage all of your data and optimize operations based on the insights you glean.
This is where Ignite Visibility can help. As a full-scale marketing company with plenty of experience in franchise marketing, we can help you get the most from every tool you use for growth and success.
Here are just some of the many ways Ignite Visibility can help:
- Select and implement the best franchise software for your business
- Track relevant KPIs and metrics based on the specific goals you set
- Develop in-depth reports with all relevant financial and non-financial data
- Continually optimize marketing and branding for your business and individual franchise locations
- And much more!
Ready to get started?
Contact the team at Ignite Visibility today and discuss your franchise marketing needs.
