“How You Do Anything is How You Do Everything” – I first heard this saying many years ago during a yoga class of all places. The instructor was speaking about being in the moment and that if you practiced this concept during yoga class, you would start the habit of doing so in other parts of your life.

While I sort of practiced being in the moment during the rest of the class, the concept was still in my mind weeks later. I realized how true it was for me and for just about everyone I know.

Think about it. If you are someone who struggles with deadlines at work, you probably get your taxes filed at 11:30 PM on April 14th. If you are a detail person, you never have to spend time looking for a file or folder, either at work or at home. If you write prompt thank you notes after a dinner party, you probably also write thoughtful notes to your coworkers if they finish up a big work project or get a promotion.

I then applied this concept to our franchise store owners. Who are the first to respond to a survey, get their data submitted ahead of schedule? Conversely, who struggles with getting things accomplished or delegating tasks efficiently? Even something as simple as getting in a signed/dated FDD receipt was an insight into how a person would behave once they joined the Wild Birds Unlimited system.

While our development process is focused on helping our potential franchisees to make a sound business decision, it is also a tool for us to determine if they are a good match for our system. Are they willing to follow a process? Are they organized and focused in their approach to getting into business for themselves? Are they communicating according to a set schedule so that they can advance through the stages of the process efficiently? Are they self-starters or do you have to constantly remind them to complete all of their development tasks? These are all qualities that our strong franchisees possess. We want to make sure that our candidates possess those same qualities, too. The answers to these questions become indicators of how they will operate their business day-to-day.

As a Franchise Development professional, your job is to ensure that the match between your brand and your candidates is strong and that the foundation has been set for a long and successful working relationship.

“How you do anything is how you do everything.” Monitor closely the habits of your franchise candidates throughout the development process and you will get a good indication of how they will execute their business practices once they become a franchisee. Take the time to assess what skills may need to be developed and whether your candidate is willing to learn and grow to follow your system and execute best practices. Then help them to understand your expectations. For your brand, for your existing franchisees, and most importantly for the candidate, it is worth the effort.