By Ryan Parsons, Evive Brands

When a new franchisee signs their agreement, their real journey is just beginning.

The excitement of launching a business often comes with a flood of questions, uncertainty, and operational challenges. A well-structured onboarding and support system isn’t just a nice-to-have — it’s the backbone of a successful franchise network.

Across our Evive brands — The Brothers that Just Do Gutters, Executive Home Care, Grasons, and Assisted Living Locators — we’ve developed a comprehensive approach to onboarding and support that minimizes uncertainty and sets franchisees up for long-term success. Our goal is simple: ensure that from day one, franchisees feel guided, supported, and confident in their ability to execute our proven systems.

Onboarding: Laying the Foundation for Success

A franchisee’s first 90 days are critical. They’ve made a significant financial investment and are placing their trust in the brand, and we have a responsibility to ensure they don’t feel overwhelmed. The key is a structured, multi-phase onboarding process that leaves nothing to chance.

At Evive Brands, we use a three-phase approach to onboarding:

Onboarding Preparation: Franchisees receive clear checklists, timelines, and immediate tasks to complete before training begins. We prioritize critical actions like securing Google verification early to accelerate digital visibility.

Training Week: A dedicated training experience — delivered remotely when possible and in person when necessary — ensures franchisees learn our systems efficiently.

Implementation & Support: Once training is complete, franchisees receive weekly check-ins for up to six months to ensure smooth execution and answer questions in real time.

We track every step of onboarding using monday.com, an automation tool that ensures no detail is overlooked. It allows franchisees to follow their progress while providing leadership with real-time visibility into where each franchisee is in the process. More importantly, we have a dedicated onboarding leader at the Evive level who ensures franchisees across all brands receive a consistent experience.

The Role of Technology in Onboarding

New franchisees have a lot to manage, and we don’t expect them to memorize every step. That’s where automation and structure come in. Monday.com plays a key role in streamlining onboarding by automatically sending reminders and checklists for each stage of the process. It takes the guesswork out of the equation, ensuring nothing is missed.

This system benefits both franchisees and corporate leadership. Franchisees gain a clear roadmap, while leadership can quickly identify franchisees who may be falling behind and provide immediate support. The ability to see and correct issues in real time is a game changer, preventing small roadblocks from becoming major obstacles.

Training: A Hybrid Approach for Maximum Efficiency

One of the biggest pitfalls in franchising is relying too heavily on in-person training for content that can be effectively delivered remotely. A hybrid approach — blending virtual and hands-on learning — ensures franchisees get the right training at the right time without unnecessary travel.

Virtual training covers sales techniques, systems, and procedures, allowing franchisees to absorb key concepts efficiently.

In-person training is reserved for real-world experiences, like job site walkthroughs for service-based franchises. You can’t teach someone how to ride a bike through a seminar; they need to get on the bike and start pedaling to truly learn.

By prioritizing in-person training for the most essential, experience-based aspects of the business, franchisors can ensure that franchisees gain the practical knowledge they need. This type of training is crucial for building confidence and developing the skills necessary for daily operations.

Our Assisted Living Locators franchisees saw a 68 percent increase in placements after we refined our onboarding process to be more intentional — focusing only on what truly drives success.

A System of Ongoing Support

Onboarding and training don’t stop after a franchisee opens their doors. True support continues well beyond the initial launch. Our “Know, Show, Do, Review” methodology ensures franchisees not only learn concepts but also apply and refine them.

Know – Understand the reason behind each process.

Show – Demonstrate the proper execution.

Do – Franchisees apply the knowledge themselves.

Review – We analyze and adjust for continuous improvement.

For the first six months, franchisees receive weekly check-ins to ensure they are applying what they’ve learned correctly. Leadership also has a roll-up dashboard to track all franchisees in the system, quickly identifying any that may need additional guidance.

Why a Strong Onboarding System Matters

A well-designed onboarding process is not just about getting franchisees up and running — it’s about ensuring they thrive. Without a structured process, franchisees can feel lost, overwhelmed, or worse, disengaged. In the past, we saw franchises struggle when onboarding was rushed or inconsistent. Today, we’ve standardized our approach across all Evive brands, ensuring that every franchisee, regardless of the brand they choose, gets the same high-quality experience.

We’ve also found that a strong onboarding system helps franchisees achieve success faster. In the past, some franchise locations took months to land their first major sale. Now, with purposeful onboarding and improved training structures, new franchisees are reaching key milestones more quickly and often outperforming those who launched a year ago — a testament to the power of a well-structured process.

The Bottom Line

At Evive Brands, we believe that onboarding and support should never be an afterthought. A franchisee’s success depends on having a clear, well-executed system from day one. By leveraging technology, structuring onboarding in phases, and providing ongoing coaching, we ensure that franchisees across our brands have the best possible foundation for long-term success.

Franchising is about partnership, and a great onboarding system is the ultimate way to honor that partnership. When franchisees are set up for success, the entire brand wins.

Ryan Parsons is CEO of Evive Brands, a franchise industry leader with a community of brands that help people live and thrive, providing support and services to increase the well-being of its clients, which includes The Brothers that just do Gutters, Executive Home Care, Grasons, and Assisted Living Locators.