This most important step in choosing the “right” franchise for you is first – knowing yourself. Before you start contacting franchisors you must do perform a thorough self-evaluation and a personal appraisal of yourself. This includes assessing your personal traits, analyzing your interests, abilities, strengths and weak points, as well as your financial goals, capacity, and limitations.
During this process, you should be able to answer the question as to why you are anxious to become your own boss and how that decision will affect those around you. It is important that you remain objective and realistic about your strengths, weaknesses, and capabilities as well as reach a definitive understanding of your goals.
Most potential franchisees know they need to look at and rate the performance of franchisors and that they need to learn about the franchise before they invest in it. However, many don’t stop to look at and rate themselves. Self-evaluation is crucial when you’re in the process of selecting a franchise. It doesn’t make any difference how good an investment the franchise is, it can only bring headaches if you aren’t right (or suited) for the specific business, for franchising in general, or for running a business.
As Alan Jeffreys, a Subway franchisee, puts it: “You will not succeed in any business unless you have a positive attitude and are willing to work your tail off and sacrifice for a few years. You’ll only get out what you put in.” And if you don’t have an honest understanding of your financial capabilities, or financial goals and expectations, you could get in over your head. To avoid making a costly mistake, determine whether or not you are cut out to be a franchise owner both temperamentally and financially.
Franchisors frequently point to the following characteristics as key to the success of a franchisee; a willingness to work hard, take risks, and work within the franchisors system. Your business and educational background, your financial capability, your management and sales abilities, and the support of your family will also play significant roles in your business.
True, no two franchise owners are alike, but those who prosper share certain traits: enthusiasm, ambition, energy, organization, the ability to get along with others, adequate capitalization, and clear, realistic financial goals. Choosing a business that is a good fit for you makes all the difference when it comes to your success.
Are you suited to a career as a franchisee? You’re the only one who can make that determination through an honest self-evaluation and personal appraisal.
Can I Succeed in Franchising? 10 Key Questions You Need To Answer:
1. Do I enjoy hard work and am I willing to work long hours?
2. Am I motivated to succeed and willing to do whatever it takes?
3. Am I ready to take the responsibility of being my own boss?
4. Am I a self-starter and a disciplined worker?
5. Do I have the ability to get the money I need to finance my business and have sufficient resources to tolerate low or negative returns for the first year of operation?
6. Do I have a high tolerance for risk and would I prefer the security of working for someone else?
7. Do I have sufficient business management experience to run my own business?
8. Am I a good supervisor and can I hire, lead, and train the right employees?
9. Do I enjoy sales? Am I good at sales & marketing? Can I deal effectively with customers?
10. Am I willing to conform to the franchisors system and can I take instruction from authority figures and experts?
Have you been able to answer “yes” to these 10 key questions? Affirmative responses to these questions indicate there’s a good chance that you have many of the personal and business traits needed to become a successful franchisee.
The next question you need to answer is: What kind of business would I like to own? Think about hobbies and interests you might have such as golf, children, fashion, fitness, pets, photography, etc. Think about special skills or talents you might have that can be useful in a business such as repairing cars, home remodeling, home decoration, or computer technology. Do you have any pertinent career, work experience, or education in fields such as accounting and teaching. Taking the time to know yourself and completing this exercise is really the most important step to franchise ownership.
The next step in the search for your “ideal” franchise is to research the market demographics in your local area.