Sola Salons FBCs: Providing Localized Support for Franchisee Success

With over 730 locations nationwide, Sola Salons, the leading salon suites franchise, has a wide reach and a large group of franchisees across varied and ever-evolving markets. With dedicated franchise business consultants, the franchisor is able to provide another layer of localized support that further boosts owners’ success. FBCs serve as strategic partners who understand both brand standards and the importance of consistency at a national level as well as the unique regional market variations franchisees experience.

With this knowledge, they provide more personalized advice to help owners maximize opportunities and reach their growth goals.

“I am working with our franchisees on a daily basis,” said Brian Bugay, an FBC who serves the eastern territory of the U.S. and parts of Canada. “Whether that’s through video calls, phone calls or actually traveling to their markets, I’m speaking with them consistently. And whether I find them through these recurring conversations or through the data from the businesses, I’m looking to identify areas of opportunity and help the franchisees find solutions.”

Localized support model

This hands-on approach to support allows FBCs to provide customized support to each franchisee, balancing local contexts with national brand standards.

“In franchising, we want to be as consistent as possible, but still allow every franchisee to showcase their individuality,” Bugay said. “We like to have those guardrails for consistency while recognizing that these franchisees have preferences in how they handle some things.”

Due to regional business practices and demographic differences, what works in California may not work well in New York or Canada, and FBCs help franchisees strike a proper balance.

Franchisee relationship stages

A franchisee’s relationship with their FBC starts right when their unit opens.

“Franchisees work with our operations specialists from the very beginning,” Bugay said. “Then from the day they open, they’re handed off to the FBC, and we take them through the entire business cycle — through their entire journey with Sola.”

For different franchisees in different stages, the support required at each stage varies, and this is another benefit to having a more localized support relationship. For example, new owners will typically have a more hands-on relationship with the FBC. Bugay says owners should expect recurring calls, often following a bi-weekly or monthly schedule.

“With more experienced franchisees, that cadence starts to taper off a little bit,” he said. “It can become a monthly, bi-monthly or even quarterly cadence. For seasoned franchisees, we may do something like quarterly business reviews. With them, we’re working on more big-picture things.”

While the insights and data that come out of recurring calls are valuable for FBCs to guide franchisees, building deeper relationships with owners allows FBCs to provide additional input and pick up on aspects of the business that may not be as readily represented in the data.

“Being able to collaborate with franchisees on an issue and have those difficult conversations sets us up to increase satisfaction, decrease turnover or achieve another positive outcome,” Bugay said. “But trust is everything. Those relationships have to be cultivated. That’s something I learned very early on.”

Knowledge sharing and collaboration

FBCs also work to facilitate connections between franchisees throughout the system, creating additional opportunities for knowledge-sharing and collaboration. From regional meetings and training sessions to the brand’s annual convention, encouraging relationships between franchisees allows owners to learn from each other while implementing brand initiatives.

Throughout their entire journey, Sola franchisees are able to leverage the expertise and strategic guidance of their FBCs to scale their businesses.

“We’re not here to be the police and tell you that something’s not on brand standard,” Bugay said. “We’re here to help. We’re here to collaborate. I see a lot of people put their life savings into opening up a Sola; I put myself in their shoes, and I want to see them succeed.”