How Offshoring Can Boost Your Franchise Business

Learn how offshoring can benefit emerging franchise brands in five ways

Key takeaways

• Offshoring can benefit emerging franchise brands in five ways: talent, cost, quality, innovation, and leadership.
• Offshoring can help you overcome the challenges of finding, affording, and retaining talent, by giving you access to a larger and diverse talent pool.

Offshoring is not just a cost-cutting strategy for big corporations. It can also be a smart way to grow your franchise business and gain a competitive edge in the market. In this article, I will explain how offshoring can benefit emerging franchise brands in five ways, and share some real-world examples of successful offshoring practices.

1. Access to a broader talent pool

One of the biggest challenges for franchise owners is finding and retaining qualified talent. According to a ManpowerGroup report, 75% of employers say they have difficulty filling roles, and a study by Korn Ferry found that by 2030, there could be a global talent shortfall of 85 million people. Offshoring can help you overcome this challenge by giving you access to a much larger and diverse talent pool. You can find skilled workers in various fields, such as marketing, accounting, IT, design, and more, at a fraction of the cost of hiring locally. 

• For example, TaskRabbit, a home services franchise, uses offshore talent to handle customer service, scheduling, and billing, while focusing on local talent for the actual service delivery.

2. Cost efficiency and scalability

Another benefit of offshoring is that it can help you save money and scale your business faster. Offshore talent typically has lower wages and benefits than local talent, which can reduce your labor costs significantly. You can also avoid the expenses and complexities of hiring, training, and managing local staff, such as taxes, insurance, payroll, and compliance. Offshoring also gives you the flexibility to adjust your workforce according to your business needs, without the risk of overstaffing or understaffing. 

• For example, Anytime Fitness, a fitness franchise, uses offshore talent to handle administrative tasks, such as data entry, bookkeeping, and reporting, while keeping local talent for core functions, such as coaching and sales.

3. Quality improvement

Offshoring can also help you improve the quality of your products and services, by allowing you to focus on your core competencies and customer satisfaction. By outsourcing non-core tasks to offshore talent, you can free up your time and resources to concentrate on your value proposition and competitive advantage. You can also leverage the expertise and experience of offshore talent to enhance your offerings and processes. 

• For example, Domino’s Pizza, a pizza franchise, uses offshore talent to develop and maintain its online ordering system, which has improved its efficiency, accuracy, and customer loyalty.

4. Innovation and differentiation

Offshoring can also help you foster innovation and differentiation in your franchise business, by exposing you to new ideas, perspectives, and markets. By working with offshore talent, you can gain access to different cultures, languages, and trends, which can inspire you to create new products, services, or strategies. You can also tap into new markets and opportunities, by expanding your reach and presence globally. 

• For example, KFC, a fast-food franchise, uses offshore talent to create and test new menu items, such as the Zinger burger, which was developed in Trinidad and Tobago, and the Chizza, which was developed in the Philippines.

5. Leadership development

Offshoring can also help you develop your leadership skills and capabilities, by challenging you to manage a diverse and distributed team. By working with offshore talent, you can learn how to communicate effectively, set clear expectations, provide feedback, and resolve conflicts across different time zones, cultures, and languages. You can also learn how to delegate, empower, and motivate your team, by giving them autonomy, responsibility, and recognition. 

• For example, McDonald’s, a fast-food franchise, uses offshore talent to train and mentor its local managers, by sharing best practices, insights, and feedback.

To summarize; Offshoring is not only a viable option for emerging franchise brands, but also a strategic advantage. By leveraging offshore talent, you can access a broader talent pool, reduce your costs, improve your quality, foster innovation, and develop your leadership. Offshoring can help you grow your franchise business faster, better, and smarter.