Would I Make a Good Franchisee?

Owning your own business has become increasingly popular over the last 25 years. More and more people are looking to take control of their lives by working for themselves. They want to avoid corporate downsizings, glass ceilings and crazy work schedules in exchange for the perceived ability to set your own schedule as a business owner.

But what many would-be entrepreneurs fail to do is to assess their particular skill sets, temperament and past work experiences before making the big leap of branching out on their own with a franchise or independent business. However, by coming to MyFranchisePath.com, you are well on your way to having us help you figure out if you have the makeup and skill set to own your own business and if so, what franchise model best fits you. Still, as we go through this process, you may realize that owning a franchise or your own business is not really for you. And that's OK because that is what our consultation is for - to help us help you to make the decision that's right for you.

Successful franchisees come from all walks of life. Some are former CEO's or mid-level managers, while others may be teachers, lawyers or even doctors. However, it has been our experience that successful franchisees tend to have four main traits: They are as follows: People Skills, Management Skills, Work Ethic and Ability to follow a system.

1. People Skills - When you run a business, you will inevitably come into contact with people, both workers and customers. Therefore, you need to like working with people and interacting with them on a daily basis. If you tend to be a loner or have had problems in the past dealing with people, then owning a franchise business may not be for you.
2. Management Skills - More often than not, as a franchise owner, you will be asked to supervise others with the number of subordinates varying from a few to many depending on the respective business model. As such, franchisors have been shown to lean more favorably to franchisee candidates with previous management experience. Still, there are so many more things that go into being a manager than just supervising people. There are the management of budgets and facilities to name a few. Thus, a franchisor is less likely to put his brand and business model in the hands of an inexperienced manager because the learning curve is significant.
3. Work Ethic - One of the primary reasons that many potential franchise owners give for having their own business is the chance to "set my own hours" and "work when I want to work." But sometimes this is a misconception. Most franchisors will require the franchisee to be at the place of business for a mandated time period, even with the "absentee owner" models. At least at the outset, a new franchisee will have to work extremely hard to be successful, often putting in long hours.
4. Ability to Follow a System - The most popular phrase in the franchising industry is "being in business for yourself but not by yourself." This means that the franchisor has taken the trial and error out of their system and it is a proven concept. The franchisor knows what works best and what does not work. And it is for these reasons that the franchisor will expect you, the franchisee, to strictly adhere to their operating system. To summarize, you are your own boss but you still have a "boss" that you are responsible to and that would be the franchisor. Those franchisees that deviate from the system have been shown to not be as successful as other franchisees and worse yet, could face discipline from the franchisor including the potential loss of their store.