Many people who start their own business, especially if it is a new concept, dream of turning it into a franchise. They have devised a successful formula and want to grow by opening more branches. There are two ways to do this; recruit a management team and start looking for sites or start a franchise.
To the uninitiated the franchise route would appear to be far easier because it avoids the problem of recruiting and managing the right people and the operational costs of a network of company owned branches. Much easier surely to recruit franchisees who will invest their money to open the branches and then manage them. All that the franchisor needs to do is sit back and rake in the royalty fees.
Some franchises do start like that but ultimately most fail. The reason is that the management of a franchise is just as complicated as any other similar business. Those who decide to turn their business into a franchise in the mistaken belief that it will be easy will probably fail. They will also cause similar difficulties for their franchisees.
The wrong reason for becoming a franchisee
Most people enter the world of work as an employee. Some later tire of being an employee because they want to be more successful by starting their own business, Others decide that they don’t like having a boss so they quit and start being self employed. The first group make great franchisees, the second group don’t.
An experienced franchisor will understand this factor and be paying attention to it when evaluating an application for a franchise. Some use psychometric testing, some use other methods. Regrettably some franchisors either don’t know or don’t care about the difference.
Prospective franchisees should ask themselves. Do I want to be the boss or do I wish I didn’t have a boss. Those in the first group should find a suitable franchise and get started. Those in the second group should change jobs and try a different boss.
