Franchising 101

So, you want to have your own business? Make a good income? Control your future?

Franchising may be the ticket.

Small business powers the American economy in good times and bad, but these days, the risks associated with starting your own business are greater than ever. This makes franchising a good choice for many entrepreneurs, for two reasons:

The brand name of a good franchisor can give you a leg up on success.
Ditto the business system of a successful franchisor.

The second of these may be the more important. Nine in 10 business startups fail within two years, mostly because of weak management. Not all franchisees are good managers, of course, and becoming a franchisee won’t necessarily make you one, either. But when you buy a proven franchise, you buy a successful business system, and if you follow that system, you can eliminate many of the risks associated with starting your own business.

That can add up to good management in anybody’s book.

It takes work to become a successful franchisee, however. You must have a strong motive to succeed – meaning not just a strong desire to succeed but a specific, strong reason to drive you toward your goal every day. You must also be mature enough to handle setbacks, which will bedevil you even before you open up for business. You must have a ready, ongoing and ample supply of capital, and if you have a family, it must be solidly behind you.

It takes work to make your way through the legal complexities of franchising, too, so don’t go it alone. Above all, you must understand that the relationship between franchisee and franchisor is such as to make you an independent business owner and a dependant one, too. You’re independent in that you will be solely responsible for your success or failure, no matter what kind of franchise you buy. You’re dependent, on the other hand, in that you’re not inventing the enterprise. Someone else did that – your franchisor. Your job is to take your franchisor’s idea and make a success of it in a particular place and time.

That’s not easy, but it’s not impossible. Lots of folks do it, and if you have what it takes to succeed as a franchisee, you can, too.