You Can Do This

“Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.” —Suzy Kassem

“Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.” ― William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure

The end of the year is always a time for reflection; most of us revisit the goals and dreams we had when the year started. If you’re yearning for a fresh start and more meaningful work, maybe it’s time for you to consider business ownership. Many of the people I’ve met in the corporate world long for the challenges and rewards of entrepreneurship but worry that they don’t have the skills to succeed.

This is why I connect my clients with franchise opportunities. For many people, owning a franchise is the perfect bridge between corporate life and entrepreneurship, offering the best of both worlds. Here’s why it might work for you:

The business skills that made you successful in your career will make you successful as a franchisee. Your transferable business skills include leadership, working well within systems, team building, and time management. Those are exactly the skills you’ll be using as a franchise owner. You’ll also need to acquire other skills, of course, but the franchisor has a system in place for training you and measuring success. You won’t have to learn from trial and error, as most entrepreneurs do.

You’ll never be working without a net. If you’ve ever seen a high-wire act, you may have had a hard time enjoying it if the performers are working without a net. A mistake will cost them their life. But when they’re in a controlled environment and working with a safety net, you can relax, because you know they’ll be protected; their mistakes won’t be fatal.

The franchise model is the entrepreneurial version of working with a safety net. You have your own business and make your own business decisions, but you have the full support of the franchise’s branding, marketing, systems, and buying power. You and your franchisor are on the same team, and they hope you achieve wild success. If you don’t make money, they won’t make money, so they’ll do everything they can to make sure you don’t fail.

If you can follow a plan, you’ll be successful. The franchisor already has a proven system for delivering results, and years of success under multiple owners. They know what works, because they’ve taken the risks and worked out the kinks long before they invited others to join their company. To be successful, you’ll simply need to be good at implementing a plan of action. That’s something you’ve probably been doing for years in your job. The good news here is when you follow the plan, your success is almost a sure thing.

You’ll have a community of other owners to support you and give you the benefit of their experience. When you’re a solo business owner, you have to figure it out for yourself. As a franchisee, you’ll have a network of other owners who will be willing to share what they’ve learned and tell you what worked for them. In fact, they’ll be one of your first points of contact with the parent company; every franchise makes talking to experienced owners part of the decision process. The other franchisees will be honest with you about their experience, their frustrations, if any, and their profitability. Becoming a business owner feels much less risky when you have a large network of people just like you who are further along the path to success.

Going into business for yourself is a big step, and it scares many people. I once coached a former military man who worked with explosives his whole career. When I told him buying a business must seem much less risky than working with bombs, he said, “No, actually. I’m terrified. In my previous job, I knew I had all the training and support I needed to be successful. I’ll be doing all of this for the first time.” Becoming a franchise owner means you’ll have all the training and support you need to succeed.

You can do this. If you’re willing to take the first small step toward business ownership next year, take the franchise assessment. There’s no obligation to go any further, and because I’m paid by franchisors, the coaching I provide will not cost you anything.