Is Franchising For You?

You may be asking yourself if you have what it takes to be successful as a franchisee. Even if you find a company where everyone else seems to be doing well, how will you know whether it will work for you?

There are a number of characteristics that virtually all franchisors look for in prospective new franchisee. As you review the following list, give yourself an honest appraisal on how strong you are on each. The better you rate, the greater your aptitude for becoming a successful franchisee.

• Honest

• Service Oriented

• Customer Focused

• Goal Setter

• Decision Maker

• Basic Need to Control and Direct

• Thrives on Achieving Results

• High Confidence/Self Esteem

• Follows Business Procedures

• Fits into the Organization

• Gets Along Well With Others

• Coachable

There are also three prerequisites that you must have in order to be successful as a franchisee. Give yourself a honest appraisal on each of these key factors before deciding to proceed.

Whether you have your experience in supervising others on the job or managing a home with children, you must have this experience in order to maximize your chance of success as a franchisee. There are just too many lessons you learn from experience that you can’t learn any other way.

There are over 5,000 franchise companies. The investment range of these opportunities runs from less than $5,000 to over a million dollars. From a practical standpoint however, you must have a net worth of at least $100,000 of which at least $25,000 to $30,000 is readily available for investment in a business. If you do not have these minimums, you will find your options so limited that franchising is probably not a viable option for you.

Most franchises assume that you will be operating the business on a full-time basis. Even the companies that are set up to accommodate absentee ownership have some minimum time requirements for the owner. You must have sufficient time in your schedule to devote whatever is required for success in your business.

As you reflect on the factors above, if you find that you match well with most or all of them, you are the kind of person that typically does well in a franchise system. If you don’t match well, this type of business is not for you.