You might be looking to venture into the business world for the first time, I wish I knew this before I did!
One of the common mistakes when individuals are looking to explore something new in business, is to compare either a franchise opportunity or stand-alone business, and (in my opinion) this is a very fatal mistake, I can assure you they are definitely not the same, so please continue to read so that I can explain further.
Take Note Of The Facts…
You can research online and find that independent studies prove the successes of franchising as being in the region of in excess of 90% success rates, now compare these statistics to those for independent businesses as a direct comparison, and they are often seen as low as 20%, now think about these for a moment, I’m sure these figures alone will surprise you, but, does that mean that you will buy or start an independent and fail? Absolutely not! But the figures do tell a picture that you are largely starting off on the wrong foot! Having said this, but if this is the real direction you want to take, if you want to be fiercely independent (and plenty of people do, and are very successful at it) then, you do have to go down this route as franchising would be totally the wrong fit for you, but if you are say, sat on the fence, franchising does look more appealing, to start with, from a pure economic point of view, wouldn’t you think?
Does Franchising Make More Financial Sense?
One of the reasons why franchising is a very viable option is because someone before you has taken all of the risks, made all the right and wrong decisions, and laid out a format that they know now works for you to pick up from day one, you will not need to reinvent the wheel, which, of course, would have time and financial implications, have a think about this value alone!
You will also need to consider the advantages and disadvantages of going alone, prepare yourself for having to think about building your business from the ground up as well as the strategic direction, finding the market, testing and measuring, the failures and successes, there are many more areas not mentioned in this briefest of articles! Then, there are the admin duties (often done outside the working day when you are on your own) and in time this will affect your ability to scale, you might not necessarily want to of course, but it’s yet another matter to think about now, franchising does though offer a community, and whilst you are effectively paying for the privilege in ongoing fees covered in your franchise agreement and duration, you will not feel like you are spending more for advice and support like you would need to if you were on your own.
Should You Even Consider Even Starting A Business Now?
2020 for sure has been the strangest times for most of us in business and personally hasn’t it, and affected virtually everyone across the world, let’s hope it is a ‘once in a generation’ problem, some will tell you never to start a business post economic resets, whether it is recession, Brexit or indeed pandemic’s, and maybe they are right, but I can tell you that I have a few businesses under my belt that did do exactly this, and largely grew and were a success, but that aside, I would definitely advise doing so when the time is right for you, this then changes your whole outlook, despite the economy!
Starting a business when it best suits you, might mean when you are in the right zone, or if you simply want to achieve the right lifestyle, but there is usually a trigger that forces your hand, such as employment uncertainty for example.
Do You Have The Right Mindset To Be In Business?
Business, whether independent, franchising or other options, is a largely fascinating and rewarding area to been involved in, but at the same time, mistakes can cost you dearly, and in some instances I have known individuals to literally inject all their capital into their new venture and lose it all, and often more, but when they look back, they can pin-point areas that they could have minimised the risks, this, I guess, is partly the point I am trying to make on this article to try and help you.
Always look to make measured risks, talk, do your research, seek professional advisers, you can do all of this for little or zero expense, they could be some of the best investment decisions you make in your entire business life!
An Objective Final Point…
Please do remember that you do have options! I have been there myself too and now have the experience of both types of businesses, I now know what I would (and wouldn’t) do again, but you must do what it right for you, sure, go and seek the expert opinion of others (which by the way is rarely served on social media) and then go and make an informed decision on what feels right in your gut, with that, you will probably make the right decision for you!
Go and do something today, please remember this…the best time to do something was probably years ago, the second best time is now!
Best of luck with the future, I hope this has given you some ‘food for thought’ I would love to learn more about how this small article impacted on you!
Richard Pakey is a franchising expert and Regional Director for the award-winning Lime Licensing Group and can be contacted in the following ways:
Email: richard@limelicensinggroup.co.uk
Mobile/text/whatsapp: 07904 697591
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-pakey-vfp-0b46ab147
https://www.limelicensinggroup.co.uk/franchise-consultants-in-cambridgeshire/
0 Comments