Doc Franchise Writings and Ramblings

Often when someone talks to me about franchising they will ask, "So, what are the hot franchises these days?" My answer is usually this, "The ones that most closely align to the new franchisee's personality and passions."

So let me ask, are you one of those who think a franchise’s success is the primary reason to buy a franchise? In other words do you think since they are successful I should consider becoming a franchisee in that particular business, that particular brand?

If you’re looking to become a franchise then you are likely to think just that way.

Don't!

“Hey, if it makes money for others, it’ll make money for me.”

Franchise Opportunities and Your Personality


If you truly want to find long-term happiness in a franchise, it’s critical you match your unique style, your personality, to the franchise’s operating style and that is an extension of the franchise companies culture. Every franchise either begins thoughtfully with a specific personality model in mind or develops one as part of their organizational development over time.

That is, the personal characteristics required for high levels of success regarding the franchise’s day-to-day activities need to relate to, not just your knowledge and skills but also your personality and how well they fit in with the franchise corporation.

Why?

Let’s look at the obvious…you certainly don’t want to make a significant financial investment and time to own a franchise you won’t enjoy. Work, career and business ownership enjoyment all are directly tied to how we define personal satisfaction. Personal satisfaction is not just a functional outcome of the work but a condition of how the process and components of the work/business we are accountable for is managed. Study after study conducted on behalf of franchising verifies that the primary reason for turnover and failures in a franchise is in a specific companies inability to match franchisee's with the culture that permeates the organization.

Let me give you an example.

Let’s say you’re naturally an introvert, no matter how successful a business may be for others, if an extrovert personality is required for success, it won’t be right for you. Being a Sandler Sales franchisee requires significant face time and the ability to execute the companies own process (How To Sell...) to your potential clients. Some may look at the business and think, "I am an executive. And the clients in this franchise business model are similar to me, they too are executives." But if you are not a high social contact person you will hate this business model. And, no, you cannot, in this model shrug these duties off on someone you hire.

You would find the same to be true of direct advertising franchises. You come out of corporate America and the clients in much of direct advertising are business owners and management but if you are not a people person this is a bad fit for you.

Well the franchise company will let me know if I don't fit won't they? No, not all of them use these forms of assessment and many who do aren't trained in either how to read them or their importance. The good news is that many of the best franchises use them but might not take them as seriously as you would want them to.

You’ve got to match your personality and your passions as well as the result, what you want the business to do for you, with the right franchise model. It is NEVER about liking the product or “look of the business”. It is not even enough that the franchise company has a truly button-downed, sure-fire approach.

How to Find a Franchising Opportunity Right for You

If you elect not to use a professional consulting service I would suggest you start by looking at a franchise business from the point of view of your personality.

Assess your behavior. Many behavioral and personality assessment surveys are available and they can assist you to determine your unique personality.

With this knowledge in hand, create a short list of franchises available that you "believe" match up with your personality profile.

A shorter method to this discovery is to use a franchise consulting firm. Many charge very little and some charge their consumer clients nothing and provide highly astute processes. Firms such as matchpointnetwork.com can help you do this effortlessly and immediately, at no cost. The reason it costs you nothing is that franchise companies are more than happy to pay these companies to find incredibly high quality candidates. As a matter of fact candidates that work through companies like www.matchpointnetwork.com have two things that every franchise company craves:

1. Franchisee's that perform at higher levels which translates to more money for everyone
2. Higher success rates for longer periods of time

MatchPoint queries the franchisees within franchise systems and outlines the profiles of their most successful franchisees. This also allows them to only recommend to their candidates the best of the best franchises in any given business category; talk about a time-saver!

Regardless of how you go about your investigation and learning about franchising let me provide a word of caution, don’t rationalize your profile or make excuses such as, “I’m the exception”…you’ll only be postponing the inevitable…a poor fit.

By digging into, "who you are" and how you operate most joyously you produce an atmosphere and process that increases the level of success you will achieve as you consider franchising as an alternative way of living your life and earning a living!