Post #3: Our Second Mentoring Call
Read about our first call here!
It’s an exciting time for Mercado Fresco in the first launching the Fresco Express Carts! Reflecting back on some of the greatest challenges ahead for Mercado Fresco, introducing the Fresco Express Carts helped to narrow in on some critical aspects of implementing changes in helping to grow the success of the franchise — A strong learning curve!
Introducing Fresco Express Carts
In launching the first round of Fresco Express Carts, Beth intended to transition some of the less productive Mercado Fresco Stores into Fresco Express Carts. For the most part, franchisees seemed to understand the motivation for this transition; however, as the change transpired, franchisees didn’t embrace the new model. Mercado Fresco staff have encountered resistance from the Mercado Fresco Franchisees, while also navigating other challenges, such as plotting cart locations, and making the franchisees comfortable with selling on the street.
To best determine a selection criteria for franchisees, the Mercado Fresco team is considering a standard in which franchisees must earning 2,000–6,000 córdobas from sales in order to continue. As more franchisees are needed, Beth and her crew will be looking to select franchisees to begin working with Fresco Express carts directly, versus being trained as a Mercado Fresco Store franchisee first. This may help to eliminate some of the barriers that may present themselves in the nature of the work, such as working in one’s home versus being mobile throughout Managua with the Fresco Express Carts.
Quality of Training
Among other challenges, the quality of training of franchisees is important. As Ferenz stated, “…It is more important to have the right people, than the right amount of people.” In addition, Ferenz depicts the idea of considering who may also be giving the training and how to best market the training for the franchisees to feel a connection, such as finding a balance in communication and culture. This ultimately may better enhance the current training focused on empowering women and teaching and implementing basic professional values.
In January 2018, a series of trainings will begin, where 30 franchisees will be trained per month. Of the individuals being trained, there will only be 15 franchisees selected. The training will include spending 70–100 hours to prepare franchisees for transitioning from store to carts. In being precise and creating an exemplary standard, Beth and her team may work to create a strong foundation of trained and dependable franchisees for which they hope to create a strong stepping stone for the future of Fresco Express Carts. Acknowledging the challenges associated with the quality of training, Mercado Fresco trainers are working hard to increase sales by monitoring and implementing strict standards in hours of operation franchisees must adhere to, as well as improving attendance at trainings. Mercado Fresco is using a variety of individuals to aid in the internal training team, including other women, domestic empowerment experts, and other professionals working pro-bono.
Cart training — The specific on-the-job cart training includes street time with an operator from Mercado Fresco. Every day, the trainees will meet with their trainers to improve their own quality of work, determine best practices, and learn to avoid pitfalls. The second day of training, the first hour is spent retrieving products and equipment needed for the day’s shift. The next hour, the operator will train and the trainee will shadow. After three hours, the roles reverse and the operator is observing, whereas the trainee is selling products — a true learn-as-you-go experience, allowing both the trainers and the trainees to learn and experience the pride of the roles and responsibilities as well as the standard for which Mercado Fresco expects its franchisees to perform.
A boost to recruitment tactic — Considering the expansion and growth of Mercado Fresco and Fresco Express Carts, Beth also discussed the importance of acknowledging who the franchisees are and which are the best qualities for which Beth and her team are seeking to enhance the business model and franchise. Best suited for Mercado Fresco might be an individual for which has personality fit for the franchise, is open to being trained and learn the values of Mercado Fresco, and is able to provide a location for the Mercado Fresco to exist and flourish. In seeking individuals best suited for Fresco Express Carts, Beth and her team also look for a good personality fit for the franchise in addition to being able to effectively perform hands-on tasks, and be able to successfully complete and show success in the learn-as-you-go experience described above.
Motivations and Adjustments
Cultural contexts can present a challenge for any organization setting up in a different country. In the case of Mercado Fresco, it is important to ask why they are having difficulty with training attendance, transitioning to carts, and hitting sales goals. While from an entrepreneurs (or franchiser’s) perspective, it may seem obvious that natives with the potential to earn more than $2/day would be eager for the opportunity, there may be several other factors (or motivations) at play. For each issue Mercado Fresco comes across, the solution may require looking outside the box — what is the opportunity cost for the women to attend a training on self-esteem? How does employment with Mercado Fresco fit into their role with their family? With their community? What cultural values are at play?
Growth of a franchise system and expansion to a new delivery model can be challenging. It will be interesting to see how Mercado Fresco can solve these growth problems and meet their ambitious expansion goals over the next several months. We are also excited to learn about Student Research Fellow Ana Alejandro’s experience when she travels to Nicaragua to visit Mercado Fresco next week! Stay tuned!
Read about Ana’s trip here!
