Our #FranchiseeFriday is Katherine Bhat and Kristine Tech, who own Woofie’s second franchised location in Leesburg, Virginia! Check out our Q&A with the awesome duo:

 

  • How does your franchise participate in community outreach efforts and give back to the local community
    • We partner with a local rescue organization to promote their work and needs for foster families to our audience.  For our grand opening we have created a raffle of local business items to promote various businesses, not just pet related.  Raffle tickets will be sold and 100% of the proceeds will go to our partner, Save the Tail’s.
       
  • What steps does your franchise system and your locations personally take to promote diversity in the workplace?
    • We advertise our job openings on a variety of websites and to different groups to cast a wide net of applicants.
  • What methods do you use to improve the franchisee-franchisor relationship?
    • Being one of the first two franchises for the franchisor gives us the unique opportunity to work hand-in-hand with them as we launch our business and as they navigate the challenges of developing their franchising system.  Also, being located in an adjacent territory to the franchisor allows us to meet regularly for operational training and to discuss ideas for growing the business.  The franchisor’s team has a vested interest in our success and that shows up in all of the hands on interaction we have with their team.
  • What traits do you look for when evaluating potential managers to help run one of your franchise locations?
    • As a pet services company we look for someone who has a sincere love of animals because this passion shows through to our clients when we are taking care of their beloved pets.  We also look for people who have a positive attitude and are extremely organized.  It is imperative we make sure all appointments are completed correctly and all clients receive a timely and detailed response.
  • How have you used technology at your franchise to increase efficiency in your operations, and what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve solved with a technological improvement?
    • We have a great software system for scheduling our clients’ services and scheduling the sitters/walkers and groomers to care for these pets.  We have been able to move many of our paper processes to be electronic based which is easier for clients and also cuts down on errors. 
  • What resources and methods do you use to educate your state and local legislators about the positive impacts of franchising?
    • As a new franchisee we are in the beginning state of reaching out to local officials to develop relationships and will certainly look for opportunities to share our experiences with the franchising process and help to encourage the officials to expand current processes that will allow other individuals looking to franchise to have similar success.

For more information about franchising with Woofie’s, click here.

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