FranchiseCanada September | October 2017 67“O
ver one million Canadians, approximately
one out of every 14 working Canadians – are
directly or indirectly employed by the fran-
chise industry” cites The Canadian Fran-
chise Association (CFA) 2016 Accomplishments Report.
The report also states that there are over 78,000 fran-
chise units across Canada. When you stop and think
about those numbers, you realize that there are many
possible careers in franchising. Some of the roles would
be similar in a non-franchised business, while some of
the positions are slightly different. The careers range
from being focused at a specific location to corporate
head office positions.
If it’s a standard “bricks and mortar” business, there
are numerous careers associated with the location itself.
If it’s a restaurant, a few positions include cashiers, cus-
tomer service agents, servers, bartenders, shift supervi-
sors, assistant managers, and managers. In addition, if a
franchisee owns more than one location, then there would
be the opportunity to serve as the general manager or
assistant general manager of multiple locations. For mul-
tiple location management, there would also be a need
for an accounting person and a maintenance position for
maintaining the building, equipment, customer area, and
landscaping. The positions at specific locations are very
important in the franchise industry, and are noticed bythe public. However, there are many careers associated
with franchising that might not be so obvious. This article
will focus on careers at the corporate head office.
Every franchisor is different in how they set their
organization structure. It will depend on the needs
of the business, which are influenced by many factors
such as the size of the corporation, the number of loca-
tions, the number of franchisees, and the type of fran-
chise business. As such, the roles and responsibilities
will vary by business, and each position could have a
lengthy description encompassing all of its nuances.
Therefore, for simplicity, the careers mentioned below
are explained in overall general terms. This article does
not touch on positions that might be dedicated to the
corporate locations of a franchisor.
It is sometimes said that there are three departments
that drive revenue growth for a franchisor: Develop-
ment, Marketing, and Operations. The other depart-
ments, such as Design and Construction, Purchasing,
Finance, and Legal are sometimes classified as support
services – meaning their functions support the growth
of the brand. All positions, regardless of department and
role, have the common function of assisting franchisees
and the franchisor with their profitability, and are help-
ing franchisees realize their dreams of owning and oper-
ating a successful small business.CAREERS IN FRANCHISING
A breakdown of the traditional roles within a franchise system, and how they work togetherBy Sherry McNeil