Earl Nightingale once said "To become successful and outstanding at something, we don't have to come up with something new; we need only find ways of doing it better."

Although Mr. Nightingale’s words were not spoken with franchising specifically in mind, they perfectly describe one of the cornerstones of franchising’s success.

Some prospective franchise buyers look for business models that possess patents, exclusivities, and high specialization. They want something that nobody else has or is doing because they perceive they can lower their risk and increase their chance of success by going into a business with little or no competition. One does not have to look too long or too far into the history of franchise success stories to find that this thinking is counter productive.

In The Millionaire Next Door, Thomas Stanley reported that 4 out of 5 millionaires in America obtained their wealth through owning business that “caters to the ordinary needs of their neighbors.” Look at successful franchise owners with that fact in mind; they sell hamburgers, janitorial services, oil changes….pretty ordinary, huh?

Not only are these successful franchisees in businesses that offer basic products and services that everyone needs and uses, they also have A LOT of competition, primarily from independent, mom and pop operations. In fact, the mom and pops have been around a lot longer then the franchise chains. Do you remember when you rented your movies from the local mom and pop video store that offered 1000 titles? But, ten years later, where do you go now? What happened?

The creation of a “better mousetrap” and consequent consolidation is what happened…and continues to happen in industry after industry, creating great success for franchise owners. Franchisors and franchisees are not in the business of creating demand. They enter industries in which the mom and pops have proven that there is demand for the product or service. Franchises then develop a more efficient business model that is easily duplicatable and gain market share quickly by expanding through entrepreneurs all using the same brand name and operating system.