If you’re reading this and following our content, you’ve probably thought long and hard about this decision. Wha’s next? You have already decided that you have what it takes and want to pursue a franchise opportunity.
So, what’s next? What do you need to expect from your first few weeks as a franchise owner? We’re going to break it down for you in the most likely order you will see these issues come up, regardless of your business type.
Before you begin
Evaluate yourself
You have to start by knowing yourself. What are your greatest strengths? What about weaknesses?
What makes you happy at work and what don’t you like. If you feel frustrated in your current situation at work, can you pinpoint why that is?
Are you up to date technologically and ready for change? What is your tolerance to financial risks?
Here is a helpful list of things (from our franchising eBook!) to think about when analyzing yourself:
• What skills, experience and interests do you have?
• What are your strengths and weaknesses when it
comes to business?
• How much money can you invest, and how much
would you like to make?
• Are you comfortable managing others, or would you
prefer to work alone?
• Where would you like your business to be located? Are
you willing to relocate?
• How much time would you dedicate to your new
business, and what hours are you willing to work?
• Will you be keeping your day job or using this venture
as an exit strategy?
• How would your significant other and other affiliated
parties feel about this process, and how will they be
involved?
Identifying wants and needs
Next, list all of the things that you want to get from your franchise business. How important are financial results to you compared to feeling fulfilled as a pillar of your community and others? setting up realistic investment and income goals for your business is important, even though it can be challenging. This is one of the things we can help you do and one of the first things we recommend to do with each new client that we bring into our network. A vision board or goal identification exercise of some kind is necessary if you want to visualize what you want and what you need to do to achieve it.
Answering these few challenges will tell you the things you need to find a business that is a match for you. Your preferences and desires dictate the perfect business type for you to invest your time and money in. The investment can be a substantial one. Make sure you are doing your due diligence and identifying the best fit for you to achieve success, whatever that may be for you.
Finding franchise companies
One of the good things about going into this type of business in the support and amount of information out there. You can find books, blogs, communities, and sites like ours dedicated to educating the world about the benefits of franchising opportunities. There are literally thousands of different businesses and brands for you to consider. Sorting through all of them can be a daunting task without someone there to help you get through it. That’s where we come in.
The first step
Right off the bat, you should be using a strategy of some kind to narrow all of the possibilities down. Consider all of the things you have identified about yourself from the above sections. This is where all of that comes into play and we make a major decision.
You can look at the industry groups or subgroups rather than looking at individual companies or brands. The specific company you identify with comes later. Vertical is more important initially. At a quick glance, are there any that immediately stand out to you? Why?
Quick example:
Let’s say that you decide you want a franchise where you can work normal business hours. You also don’t want a lot of employees to manage. You would rather keep it small. You want to spend around $100,000 investment or less. You will be able to eliminate many of the retail and food segments because they have many employees and off-hours. They get busy at night time when people are out of work. If that is not when you are interested in being active at work, it probably isn’t a good vertical for you.
Consultants are here to help
It is a daunting task, to say the least. Doing all of this yourself is enough to drive some people away from ever opening their own business. If you don’t want to do it all yourself, you don’t have to. Franchise consultants exist to assist in exactly this process. They’ve helped hundreds of people like you get on their feet and get running with a franchise business. Many even offer these preliminary services for free. You need to find a company to investigate these opportunities for you, identifying pros and cons to help you choose the right fit. Alternatively, you could end up wasting a lot of your time and effort in the wrong places.
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