Raise the heat in your franchise business and stave off the dark days of winter. Here are five ways to stay perky and motivated.

There’s barely time to draw breath when you’re a franchisee and that can be hard work in itself. You need to keep up your spirits and your motivation, even now, when rugging up and feeling cosy is the order of the day.

Winter is our season for warm food, huddling by the heater, woolly socks and early nights to fight off the chill. For most of us winter is a great time to retreat in doors, take refuge on the couch with a nanny rug and the tv remote.

On the positive, winter can be a powerful time of rest and reflection, but sometimes as the temperature drops so too does our motivation.

Hello winter you chilly minx!

Here are my top five ways to fight off the winter business blues.

1.   Remember you are not going solo

There is a network of people who understand exactly what you are going through. Whether it’s managing a rogue employee, juggling a price rise, implementing a legislative change… you have a network of fellow franchisees doing the hard yards with you. You can call on them for a sympathetic ear, someone who understands exactly what it’s like to do what you do. You can vent with your franchisee buddies about the hard slog of winter and then motivate each other to do something. You don’t get access to such a brains trust as an independent operator. So use it. Find your people and tap into the collective genius.

TIP: keep your network healthy. Regularly reach out to other franchisees, grab the opportunities your franchisor provides for you to network and connect. Reach out when you need help and offer a hand to others in their times of need.

2.   Your franchisor’s ‘nudge alongs’

It’s cold, the TV shows are great, and it’s easy to get into a ‘worry about that later’ mindset. A great franchisor is there to nudge you out of a winter funk and spark your motivation even in the chilliest depths.

TIP: if you’re feeling flat and the call of the couch is stronger than the call of your overdue accounts, holler for your support team. Have a chat to your field manager or someone else in the franchisor team. Let them know how you’re feeling and see how they may be able to help. Sometimes a chat is enough to get the spirit going, or a visit from a member of the franchisor team, a half hour planning session with someone in marketing, a chat to the training team about a workshop you can run for your team, might be all you need to fire up your mojo.

3.   Plotting and planning

In the southern hemisphere winter spans the end of one financial year and the start of another. Good franchisors have solid review and planning systems in place to ensure you stay on top of your end of year reporting and compliance requirements and lay the foundations for a productive and profitable new year. In many cases franchisors will filter and summarise information so it is targeted and specific for your business.

TIP: get on the front foot in the planning process. Workshop ideas with fellow franchisees, redo training offered by the franchisor on business planning, read communications the franchisor sends out.

This time of year the franchisor is also in planning mode. So find out what they are up to. Is there the chance for you to join a committee or a task force or get involved with training new franchisees?

4.   The great winter bug massacre

Winter kills off all the nasty biting insects [I’m looking at you mozzies!] that we endure during the summer months. The chill is like a giant can of bug spray mowing down the horrible bits.

Your franchisor can do the same – their giant can of Mortein is the operational checks and reviews they have in place. Great franchisors have a suite of powerful tools that help you critically review your business, highlight the things that are going well and shine a critical light on opportunities.

TIP: Use these tools to identify any areas that need work in your business. We get ‘store blind’ so easily and stop seeing things as they really are. Take this time to flush out the bugs. Invest in assessing and reviewing so you are ready to emerge in spring with a healthy ‘bitey-bug’ free business.

Tackle some of the annoying tasks that blow around your business. File your emails, catch up on your compulsory training, clean out your office. Staying productive is motivating in itself.

5.   Maximise your support structure

Franchisors provide training, marketing, buying support, they help with negotiating leases, managing fit outs… it’s a long list.

TIP: Find out if you are taking advantage of all the services your franchisor provides. Check what other franchisees are tapping into. Ask your field manager how else they can help you. Review your business plans and see where you can get more useful input from your franchisor.

There are plenty of ways to fend off the cold, especially in the warm embrace of a franchise system.