Painless Operations Manuals
Photograph by Simply Sold
“The problem was we needed an operations manual in order to replicate our business in other cities, but we did not have a clue where to begin.”
The Challenge
An Austin, TX home remodeler had a great idea: simplify the process of selling a home by providing homeowners with their own personal project management team. This team would plan and manage the details of preparing a home for market, from repairs and upgrades to staging. They’d handle all of the sub-contractors, schedules, and deliveries, relieving the homeowners of that burden.
They had developed service contracts, vendor agreements, and brief articles on process and guidelines, but never brought them together into an operations manual. They needed to streamline their processes if they wanted to grow.
“We knew it was a large undertaking and we needed professionals who knew exactly what to do. White Deer Group provided a simple, effective process that could get us from point A to point Z.”
It’s pretty common for new businesses to run their founders, instead of the founders running their businesses. There is so much to do, and clients come first, so taking the time to stop and really think about your processes, how they look to the customer, and whether those processes can handle change and growth is a task easily pushed down on the to-do list. This is especially true of the standards that “aren’t fun” – things like charts of accounts and insurance.
The Solution
Just like our client, our job at WDG is to bring order to what seems like a chaotic process, to guide them through the effort of documenting their business to be franchised. But instead of arranging contractors to repair a roof, we manage the process of constructing their story.
“I was forced to think through all my internal and external components and factors that I had not had time or the capacity to review before. It changed how I operated my business and how I perceived the company overall.”
It’s not just the writing and organizational services we provide that make a difference to our clients, it’s the questions we ask them to help refine, reconfigure, or reimagine their business. How can you replicate this? How will that be trained? What will this look like when someone else teaches it, when you have franchisees training their staffs?
Will your standards still be intact once your processes have been stress tested?
Our step by step, modular approach, guided by experienced franchise advisors with decades of practice with both emerging and established brands, helps turn the chaos into thoughtful action.
“The expertise, the knowledge and the ideas brought to the table…they made it seamless and simple.”
The Results
Our client’s vision to push for higher industry standards and bridge the disconnect between realtors, contractors, and homeowners began during her struggle to project manage the renovation and sale of her own mother’s house. Now, with 12 employees and over 1,400 renovation projects completed, business is thriving. And now, having preserved their systems and processes in a polished, functional operations manual, they’re poised to continue developing.
About White Deer Group
White Deer Group is a content and knowledge management agency with experienced franchise advisors who help guide emerging franchise companies through the process of documenting their knowledge. We work with emerging and established brands to remove barriers to growth. We love to talk to people about their franchise operations, and consultations are always free.