Life doesn’t come with an instruction manual. If it did, it would be so much easier not to make a hash of things.
And while there are millions of books purporting to tell us how to lead our lives, not to mention parents who think they know a thing or two, our destinies often depend on a suck-it-and-see approach or trial and error.
Not so in the franchising industry, though.
Unlike the vast majority of business people who rely as much on luck as hard work when they’re trying to succeed, anyone becoming a franchisee will have their future mapped out for them by experts who know where they need to go and how to get there, profitably.
Those experts know what they’re talking about because they’ve been there, done that, and, in most cases, built the business from scratch, learning from their own and others’ mistakes along the way.
By the time they’re ready to franchise it, the business is a proven success with a formula that anyone with the right approach and dedication can follow.
It’s as near to a guarantee of success as you’ll ever get, and in an age of social media and easy communications, it’s dead simple to check if the claims stand up to scrutiny.
People who’ve already bought a franchise will usually tell you the unvarnished truth about their experiences if you’re serious about following in their footsteps.
One of the most obvious benefits of buying a franchise is that potential customers have usually heard of it.
If you’re thinking of opening a hamburger restaurant and wondering whether the custom will be there, you’d find it considerably easier if it came with a big yellow M outside than if you tried to create your own brand from scratch.
And then there’s the book.
Whether you’re selling hamburgers, offering maths tuition or hoping to clean every window in a 10-mile radius, your franchise will come with an operations manual, a Bible, that you’re contractually bound to follow religiously.
It’s packed with do’s and don’ts, but most importantly contains the secret formula that has made the business the success it is – a formula that you, and other franchisees, will follow on your path to profit and recognition.
The franchisors who own the core business stood in your shoes once, remember, so they’ve dealt with all the uncertainties and transformed them into certainties that you can benefit from – and they’ll be mentoring you every step of the way, as your success is in their financial interest, too.
If you’re the sort of entrepreneur who wants to do things your way, franchising’s not for you, as the formula needs to be followed, not tinkered-with, but if you’re happy to stand on giant’s shoulders and run your business in a way that’s already been proven to work, franchising may be just what you’ve been looking for.
