Jim Cooper and Gary Ward, Franchise Business Leaders at The Honey Baked Ham Co®, spend each day on a mission to be a valuable resource and a helping hand to the dozens of HoneyBaked franchisees they work with. We asked them for insight into their day-to-day and the motivation behind the important work they do for our franchise family.
HoneyBaked: Let’s start with some background – when did you first get involved in the franchise industry?
Gary Ward: My first exposure to franchising was at Popeyes. Before I came to HoneyBaked, I spent 19 years at Krystal Company and Pizza Hut, then later worked with Popeyes, then Hardee’s and Taco Bell. But it was at Popeyes that I learned the franchise model and honed the skills I use every day in my career.
Jim Cooper: I’ve been with HoneyBaked since 1984. I came up through the HoneyBaked system, working in a seasonal, hourly position on the crew. Moved to full-time, and later became a manager at the original HoneyBaked location in Detroit from ’86-’89. Later I lived in and ran the Chicago market from ’91-’09.
Then, after The Honey Baked Ham Co.® purchased Heavenly Ham, I knew enough about the system and processes to offer help to the new franchisees. I didn’t know much about franchising at first, but when [VP of Franchise Operations] Horace Williams came on board, he helped us refocus and get enhanced training where we were more confident and successful in our roles as consultants.
HB: How would you describe your day-to-day? Your role?
GW: We’re not exactly road warriors, but we spend a lot of time traveling to visit the franchisees we work with. And when we do, we always take a consultative approach. My role is about building relationships, building trust. It’s about answering questions in a timely manner. As a consultant, I’m a liaison between the franchisees and the brand, and franchisees’ “first line of defense,” so to speak, if they ever have questions or need a hand.
JC: I always saw my role as a diplomat. It’s fluid work. We’re constantly working with franchisees to set and update short- and long-term goals – we set three-year goals, and break those down into one-year goals, and as new things get thrown into the mix, new directions, we add them in. We put a big emphasis on prepping for the holidays and making sure the franchisees are confident going into those seasons. And we’re always making sure, operationally, things are going smoothly and that the quality of the product stays where it needs to be.
HB: What’s the best part of your job?
GW: It’s the people. All the people I work with, the teams at corporate, the other consultants and my franchisees. All 19 of my franchisees are great. Pretty much all of them have been at it long enough to really know what they’re doing, but they’re still learning. And I’m learning, too. But we work together and we help each other and we all bring something different to the table, and support each other through teamwork.
JC: When you’re working with 150 franchise owners, you’ve got a 150 different personalities and business styles and stories and 150 people who want and need to be listened to. And that’s a big part of my job – to listen. When you get to sit down and work one-on-one with a franchisee and learn what their goals are and ask how they’re going to get there – and working together to create a plan to achieve those goals. That’s one of the unique challenges of the job and what makes it rewarding.
