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| Aug 29 2006, 12:15 PM EDT (current) | guidantfinancial | 6 words deleted |
| Aug 28 2006, 7:28 PM EDT | LeslieKuban | 724 words added |
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By Leslie Kuban, FranNet of Atlanta Many people wish to become franchise owners because of the satisfaction, pride and independence that come from owning a business. The franchise that is the perfect fit for you might be a mismatch for your next-door neighbor. It is important to carefully research each business you might be interested in to find the franchise opportunity that is personally, professionally and financially rewarding. Keep this list of dos and don’ts in mind while investigating the right match.
DO begin by taking a long, hard look in the mirror and writing down the possible benefits of your business over the next five years. Be as detailed as possible. What will you have or be able to do as a result of owning your own business? What will your family’s lifestyle be like? What will you have accomplished personally, professionally and financially? Also, what do you know you don’t want in a business? In short, what is the home run for you?
DON’T start researching specific franchise opportunities without your five-year criteria list in hand. Searching for a business without a vision statement is like trying to reach an unfamiliar destination without a map. Many people are overwhelmed by the ocean of franchise opportunities. Your plan is the yardstick against which you are evaluating your choices; when you know what you want and where you want the business to take you, you can maneuver through the search more effectively, focusing on the ones that conform to your criteria and dismissing those that don’t.
DO choose a franchise because it is a natural fit for your strongest type of people skills. If you enjoy sales and marketing, a good match may be a service franchise in which the main function of the owner is personally developing the customer base. If your forte is managing employees and overseeing general operations, a retail business may be a comfortable fit. Choosing a franchise where you will be spending most of your time interacting with people in a way you enjoy is an important factor in setting yourself up for a fulfilling experience.
DON’T assume that you can determine what skills are required in a particular business based on what you may see as a customer of that business. For example, many people think that to be successful in owning a children’s private education/tutorial business, an owner must have an education background and be good at working with children. Successful educational franchise owners hire the teachers with those skills to teach the classes; the owner communicates with parents and markets the business in the community.
How do you determine what skills an owner needs to have to enjoy and succeed in his or her business? Talk to several happy franchise owners about a day in the life of their business and how it evolves as their businesses grow. All franchises have very happy, moderately happy and not-so-happy franchise owners. They all went through the same training, yet they have very different levels of success and reward. The difference often is that the happy, successful owners took the time to understand what they would need to do and how they would be spending their time in that business before committing, while the others based their decision on their perception of what the business would be, not the hard data they collected.
DON’T choose a franchise because you are a devoted customer and love the product/service or because it speaks to a personal interest. You may love making stained glass as a hobby, but there is a lot more to running a stained glass business. If you don’t enjoy selling and marketing your services as well as managing the financials of your business, you are not setting yourself up for a satisfying experience.
Happy business owners are very passionate about their businesses, but their passion is for the results and benefits that owning the business gives them. The key is not to have the end product or service become attached to the business owners’ personal identities.
There are thousands of franchises out there, and at least one is sure to be the right fit for you. However, it is important to spend time in the beginning doing the necessary research to find your match. Once you make the right choice, the rewards will be well worth the work.
DO begin by taking a long, hard look in the mirror and writing down the possible benefits of your business over the next five years. Be as detailed as possible. What will you have or be able to do as a result of owning your own business? What will your family’s lifestyle be like? What will you have accomplished personally, professionally and financially? Also, what do you know you don’t want in a business? In short, what is the home run for you?
DON’T start researching specific franchise opportunities without your five-year criteria list in hand. Searching for a business without a vision statement is like trying to reach an unfamiliar destination without a map. Many people are overwhelmed by the ocean of franchise opportunities. Your plan is the yardstick against which you are evaluating your choices; when you know what you want and where you want the business to take you, you can maneuver through the search more effectively, focusing on the ones that conform to your criteria and dismissing those that don’t.
DO choose a franchise because it is a natural fit for your strongest type of people skills. If you enjoy sales and marketing, a good match may be a service franchise in which the main function of the owner is personally developing the customer base. If your forte is managing employees and overseeing general operations, a retail business may be a comfortable fit. Choosing a franchise where you will be spending most of your time interacting with people in a way you enjoy is an important factor in setting yourself up for a fulfilling experience.
DON’T assume that you can determine what skills are required in a particular business based on what you may see as a customer of that business. For example, many people think that to be successful in owning a children’s private education/tutorial business, an owner must have an education background and be good at working with children. Successful educational franchise owners hire the teachers with those skills to teach the classes; the owner communicates with parents and markets the business in the community.
How do you determine what skills an owner needs to have to enjoy and succeed in his or her business? Talk to several happy franchise owners about a day in the life of their business and how it evolves as their businesses grow. All franchises have very happy, moderately happy and not-so-happy franchise owners. They all went through the same training, yet they have very different levels of success and reward. The difference often is that the happy, successful owners took the time to understand what they would need to do and how they would be spending their time in that business before committing, while the others based their decision on their perception of what the business would be, not the hard data they collected.
DON’T choose a franchise because you are a devoted customer and love the product/service or because it speaks to a personal interest. You may love making stained glass as a hobby, but there is a lot more to running a stained glass business. If you don’t enjoy selling and marketing your services as well as managing the financials of your business, you are not setting yourself up for a satisfying experience.
Happy business owners are very passionate about their businesses, but their passion is for the results and benefits that owning the business gives them. The key is not to have the end product or service become attached to the business owners’ personal identities.
There are thousands of franchises out there, and at least one is sure to be the right fit for you. However, it is important to spend time in the beginning doing the necessary research to find your match. Once you make the right choice, the rewards will be well worth the work.
