Tips for Managing your Tool Franchise—and Yourself—Successfully

From the desk of Tim Gilmore, Matco Tools President

We’ve all had bosses: excellent bosses, horrible bosses, bosses who become our greatest asset and bosses who seem like our greatest liability. One of the most attractive benefits of becoming a franchise owner is getting to be your own boss.

Being your own boss creates a whole new world of freedom, flexibility and reward. When you own a franchise, you call the shots, including when you work and what your day looks like. When you own a mobile tool franchise from Matco Tools, you get more freedom and flexibility. Because you go to customers instead of waiting for your customers to come to you, you can decide your hours of operation and schedule your own sales calls.

Not only are Matco franchise owners their own bosses, they are often their own one-person workforce. Not having to manage employees leaves more time for other important tasks, and it also means you reap all the benefits of your hard work. Whatever success and profits you create are the result of your efforts.

Working for yourself can be a great situation, and with the right mindset and these four habits, you can become the best boss you’ve ever had:

#1 Focus on what matters—
your customers

There is a lot to think about and manage when you own a franchise business. Overhead costs, building operation and employee hiring and training are just a few of an owner’s concerns. What’s more, that list doesn’t even cover the most important thing: selling products to customers.

With a mobile franchise like ours at Matco Tools, franchise owners don’t have to worry about managing the operations of a brick and mortar store or hiring and training employees to run it. The Matco business model allows franchise owners to focus on serving customers and earning their trust.

At the end of the day, your job is to make your customers’ jobs easier. If you focus the majority of your energy and effort on making sure your customers’ needs are met, success is likely to follow.

#2 Listen

A major part of focusing on your customers is listening to what they need. When customers know you are hearing and understanding their concerns and challenges, they are more likely to perceive your relationship as an ongoing partnership instead of a sales transaction. Especially if you are not yet an industry expert, listening to your customers can help you learn more about your products and the solutions they provide.

Franchise owners can gain a lot from listening to franchisor, the parent company, too. Matco Tools has spent decades perfecting their systems and practices.  After all this experience with customers and distributors, Matco knows its stuff—what works, how to do it and what franchise owners need to do to ensure that their business thrives.

#3 Use your resources

Although franchise business ownership grants you freedom and allows you to be your own boss, you are not alone.  All franchises exist as an offshoot of a franchisor that figured out a profitable business model. By operating under a franchise’s brand, you are agreeing to follow their proven system to increase your chances of meeting your business goals.

Like many franchisors, we help our franchisees get started. We offer multiple in-house financing options; provide initial training that is best-in-class, as well as ongoing support from field managers and veteran distributors. One distributor said it’s like having a business partner to help him run his business and learn the industry better.

Traditional franchises may offer some of these resources, but few provide the outstanding franchise and technical product support that Matco is known for. We are available to our franchise owners 16 hours a day, assisting with daily business activities and product questions. We provide warranty claim support and administration. We also track shipments, provide special order assistance and tackle product troubleshooting inquiries. Our marketing and promotional support is also a major asset to our franchisees.

#4 Take credit

I think one of our top distributors in Minnesota says it best:

“There is nothing like waking up in the morning knowing you’re not going to work to make someone else’s numbers look good on paper. You’re going to work to support your family and put food on the table. It is very rewarding knowing that everything you get out of your Matco franchise is because of the hard work you put in, day in and day out.”

He’s absolutely right. One of the most satisfying parts of being your own boss is knowing that your efforts are the reason for your achievement. You can take all the credit because you’ve earned it! There is no chain of command or “office politics” to get in the way of your sense of accomplishment—or level of success.

Start a Matco Tools mobile franchise today to become your own boss and put these habits to work.

For more details: https://www.matcotools.com/franchise/