The Easy Entrepreneur

If you’ve ever thought of starting a business, you’ve probably heard of franchises. But how do they really work? There are many myths and misconceptions around franchises. For example, many people think they’re only retail and fast food. Or that you need business or industry experience to get started. Or that they’re too expensive.

A franchise can be a great way to run a business. While you still own your own business and earn all the profits, you’re part of a bigger system and they do a lot of the work for you. I’ve owned two franchises myself, and they helped me grow faster and stronger than I ever could have on my own.

What is a Franchise?

In a franchise system, a parent company (the “franchisor”) develops a brand, business model, and support systems. They test it and improve it until it’s profitable and can be run by other people. Then they licenses it to individual business owners (“franchisees”) to run their own copy of the business. Each franchisee independently owns and operates their own business, but they’ve agreed to follow the systems of the franchisor. This provides a single brand and consistent product.

It’s generally much easier to start a franchise business than to start a business on your own, because the franchisor does a lot of the work for you. Here are some examples of what a good franchise will provide its owners:

• Proven business model, already successful in other locations. You can verify this with existing owners before deciding to join.
• Training and support. They teach you how to run the business. For many franchises, you don’t need industry experience or a business degree.
• Established brand and marketing support to keep the brand fresh and help you get new customers.
• Centralized business systems and best practices. Not only do you save on the cost of these systems, but you don’t have to waste any time figuring out how to set them up. You’ll also get better results with the brains and experience of dozens or hundreds of owners than you could ever figure out on your own.
• Network of other owners. You’re in business for yourself, but not by yourself. Learn from the most successful owners.
• Growth potential. There’s no salary cap to a business, and in many cases you can grow even more with multiple units.

In return for this, you’ll pay an upfront franchise fee as well as ongoing royalties, but these can be well worth it. These vary from business to business, but you’ll learn about them in detail before deciding to join.

Types of Franchises

Of course you’ve heard of the big fast food franchises like McDonalds and Subway, but there are over 3000 franchises in many industries. Here are some examples:

• Education, including in-home tutoring, preschools, and after-school enrichment.
• Fitness, including boutique fitness gyms, in-home personal training, equipment maintenance, and children’s fitness.
• B2B (business to business) services, such as consulting, staffing, marketing, sign manufacturing, janitorial services, and many more.
• Pets, including pet stores, dog walking, and pet sitting.
• Home services, such as bathroom remodeling, home repair, cleaning, damage restoration, and landscaping.
• Senior care, including senior home referrals and in-home care.
• Personal care, such as hair care, eyelashes, massage, and chiropractic.
• Real estate, including home flipping, property management, and home inspections.

There are also many kinds of business models. Some are home-based, others are mobile, and others require a brick-and-mortar location. Some have many employees, some have none or few. The role of the owner also varies, but in most cases you’ll be in an executive and sales role, and hire employees to do most of the labor. Some are even designed for multi-unit ownership, to scale to any size that you want.

Finding Franchise Opportunities

You can try to Google for franchise opportunities, but chances are the popular ones are sold out in the good locations, and there’s no way to know the quality of the rest without doing detailed research on each one. A franchise consultant can help you cut through the mess, and find the opportunities that would be the best match for you. As a franchise consultant myself, I offer these free services:

• Understand your personal goals and strengths. These are far more important to finding the right business than starting with a specific brand or industry in mind.
• Find franchise opportunities that match your financial and lifestyle goals, and play to your strengths.
• Research each franchise to understand the business model, unit economics, competitive advantage, and owner role. You’ll have regular calls to learn about a franchise, and I can help you ask the right questions. I’ve researched hundreds of franchises myself.
• Explore financing options. There are a number of different ways to finance a business.
• Answer your questions objectively. I’ve owned two franchises myself, and I work with a company called FranNet that has been placing new franchise owners for over 30 years.

Best of all, it’s free and there’s no obligation. Even if you decide that franchising isn’t for you, I’m happy to help you learn about it.

Contact me today and let’s set up a short call to get to know each other!

For the first 15 years of my career, I was like many “successful” people. I had a good education, I had a job that I was good at, and I was climbing the career ladder. But I wasn’t happy. I was frustrated with corporate bureaucracy and politics. I was tired of the Monday to Friday grind with conference calls at all hours, and I wanted more freedom. I also wanted my work to have more impact in the real world.

I wanted a change, but what? I could go to another company, but I’d end up back in the same place in a few years, frustrated and burned out. I could leverage my tech background to do a startup, but that requires 60+ hours per week and most startups fail. I had always wanted to run my own business, but I didn’t have any business experience.

I decided to explore franchise ownership because they provide a proven business model, training and support, and centralized operations. This makes it possible to run a successful business without any prior industry or business experience. You’re copying an existing business that’s already successful in other locations, so you don’t have to invent and do everything yourself. Ultimately, franchises have a higher success rate than self-started independent businesses.

I worked with a FranNet franchise consultant, explored several business opportunities in detail, and decided to go with a massage franchise. Why that business? Because it met my financial and lifestyle goals: It was a business that I could believe in, helping people feel better. It was a growth industry with good profit potential. And it was a semi-absentee business model, where I could hire a manager and focus on an executive role in the business. I explored a number of options with FranNet, but ultimately this was the best business for me at that time.

Download the FranNet Roadmap to Success, your guide to getting started in business.

The franchise taught me what I needed to run the business. They had guides and checklists for everything from finding a location to hiring employees to operations procedures. I had a business coach and a network of other owners that I could reach out to anytime that I needed help. Plus I listened to business audiobooks on my own, on topics like marketing and customer service, to take the business to the next level.

Since I wanted a semi-absentee business where I didn’t have to be there every day, I hired a manager to run the day-to-day operations. She helped me grow the business much faster than I could on my own. We followed the franchise playbook for hiring and training employees, built out a great team, and quickly grew the business to be #1 on Yelp.

One of my favorite aspects about being a business owner is the freedom. Instead of having a Monday to Friday grind, I can work on my own schedule, do the work I like the most, and delegate the rest. I only had to go into the business a couple times a week to check on things, and get a free massage of course! I took at least one vacation a month, traveling to places all around the world. I’m always able to keep up with the business through the internet and email.

Owning a business isn’t without challenges, as things often go differently than expected. But it’s a great opportunity for personal growth, and I learned to overcome each challenge and grow my comfort zone. I grew from an employee mindset to become an entrepreneur and CEO! I even took it one step farther, to leverage the business to create the life I had always wanted as an Easy Entrepreneur!

It took an upfront investment to get started, but I grew the business to be profitable, and joined a second franchise as a consultant to help other people grow their businesses. With these, I was able to fully replace the income from my tech job, while working part time! There are also many tax benefits to business ownership, so I got to keep even more of my money.

This was the semi-retired lifestyle that I had always dreamed of! I traveled all over the world, had more time to spend with my family, and learned new hobbies like writing and music. I had the freedom to work where and when I wanted, and my businesses provided enough income and gave me direction.

I’ve since sold both these businesses, and started a couple of other ones. I’ve also become a FranNet franchise consultant myself, and help other people find their dream business opportunity.

Let’s chat if you’d like to learn more about business ownership for yourself!

I love to share my experience with others, learn about you, and help you learn about your best options for business ownership. There’s no cost and no obligation, so let’s set this up today!

It’s a new year, and things are looking up! Here are some reasons why it’s a great time to start your own business:

1. 2020 is over. The vaccine is rolling out and the pandemic will finally wind down. The business environment is ready to restart.
2. Start looking now, and you’ll be in business as the economy reopens. It typically takes 3-6 months to explore your options and start a business.
3. Pent-up consumer demand after a year of shutdowns.
4. Less competition, as weaker businesses closed during the pandemic.
5. Location, location, location. Retail vacancies won’t last long in the Bay Area!
6. Great time to hire talented employees.
7. Record low interest rates for business financing.
8. Income potential. Scale your business empire with multiple units.
9. Diversify your retirement portfolio.
10. Build an asset that you can sell down the road.
11. Achieve financial independence and early retirement.
12. You’re the boss! Escape corporate politics and take control of your career.
13. Freedom to work when you want, where you want, and how you want.
14. You don’t have to quit your job to start exploring business opportunities. You can even start a part-time businesses and keep your job or have time for other things.
15. Work / life balance. More time for family and to do the things you love.
16. Franchises provide a proven business model, and the good ones have grown stronger during the pandemic.
17. You don’t need experience. A franchise will teach you how to run the business.
18. Choose a business model that’s both pandemic and recession resistant.
19. Many industries and business models to choose from. B2B, education, fitness, personal services, home repair, automotive, light manufacturing, and fast-casual restaurants, to name a few. Find one that fits you.
20. Join an established or emerging brand.
21. Learn something new. Give yourself the opportunity to evaluate if business ownership is right for you, even if you decide that this isn’t the right time for you.

Starting a business requires research and planning, and I can help. FranNet has helped thousands of new business owners get started, at no cost to you. Let’s have a call to learn more and get started today!

The most important step in starting a business is choosing the right business. There are an endless number of business ideas to choose from, but which one will make money, and which one is right for you? Do you want a restaurant, a travel agency, an online store, a tech startup, or to provide B2B (business to business) services? Do you want to follow your passion, or follow the money? And if you have a basic idea, how do you get started?

There are three basic ways to start a business. Each has its strengths and tradeoffs, and we’ll go into that in more detail.

1. Start a business from scratch.
2. Buy an existing business.
3. Buy a franchise.

Start a Business From Scratch

The sky’s the limit when you start a business from scratch. You can do any kind of business you want, from teaching Yoga classes to doing a high tech startup. Whether based on a hobby, professional interest, or a family business, you can organize it around things that you’re passionate about. You have total control, get to make all the decisions, and can be as creative as you want. As long as you pick something that’s profitable and scales, there is no limit to how much money you can make!

That said, starting a business from scratch has the highest risk. You have no structure or support, and you have to make every decision yourself. There is a long learning curve, both for you to learn how to run the business as well as your competitors, as well as for the business to grow and become profitable. Any mistake could be catastrophic.

If this is the path you want to take, here are some steps to get started:

1. Do your research. Find books or case studies about similar businesses, and try to learn from their success and mistakes.
2. Make a business plan. Develop the business model on paper, and make sure it makes sense. Come up with projections to see if you can really make money with it.
3. Get professional help. Find a mentor, such as from SCORE, who can review your business plan and provide guidance.

Buy an Existing Business

If starting from scratch sounds like too much work, you can also buy an existing business. It will come with existing customers, business systems, and employees. It will have established financial results, so you know how the business is doing. It may even be profitable and have a good reputation in the community. If the existing owner has moved or is disengaged, you may be able to take the business to the next level and make it even better.

There limited options when you look at businesses for sale. What’s worse is that many of them aren’t doing well, and you don’t want to buy a lemon! The first question you should ask the owner is why are they selling? Most listings say “owner is retiring” or “personal reasons” which is often an excuse for a business that’s not doing well. It could be losing money, have a lease that’s ending, have a bad reputation in the community, or be in a market that’s declining. If it’s profitable, it may be overpriced.

If you’d like to explore buying a business, here are some steps to take:

• Explore business listings. A couple sites that list businesses for sale are BizBuySell and BizBen.
• Do your homework. Talk with the owner to find out why they are selling, and what the biggest challenges and opportunities are. Secret shop the business, secretly if the employees don’t know it’s for sale, and compare it to its competitors both online and in person. Review the financial statements. If it’s a struggling business, make sure it’s something you can turn around.
• Work with a business broker. Like a real estate agent, they can help you navigate the issues when buying a business.

Buy a Franchise

The easiest and fastest way to go into business is with a franchise. Here you are buying the rights to use an existing brand with a proven business model. They have already worked out the kinks and are profitable in other locations, and have business systems that help you ramp up faster. Most franchises have a higher success rate than a starting a similar business on your own. You also don’t need any business or industry experience – they provide training and ongoing support to make sure you succeed. A franchise should also give you a lot of information up front, before you make any decision, on the costs associated and what’s expected of you, and even let you talk to existing owners to get their unbiased opinion.

The primary downside of franchising is that you are purchasing an existing business model, and you have to follow their systems. That doesn’t mean that there isn’t room for creativity, but you can’t start selling pizza at a McDonald’s franchise (unless they change the menu, and then you may be required to sell pizza!). Franchises tend to thrive in existing and growing industries, so there are fewer industries and not many options in areas like high tech. There are also costs associated with a franchise such as an initial franchise fee and ongoing royalty payments, though a good franchise returns that value in training and support.

If you’d like to explore franchising, here’s how to get started:

1. Work with a franchise consultant. Like a real estate agent when you’re looking to buy a house, a good franchise consultant will help find the right opportunities for your lifestyle and financial goals. There are too many franchise out there and not enough information online to find them on your own, and a local franchise consultant can also provide expertise for which ones are growing in your area. (Full disclosure: I’m a franchise consultant and offer a free consultation if you’d like to learn more.)
2. Do your research. Any good franchise will want you to make an educated decision before you decide to sign with them, and will have an in-depth process to teach you about the business. However, this information is not generally available online (where their competitors could see it), so you will have to work with them through their process. They will share things like the business model, costs, financial results, contracts, and even existing owners to talk with! Take your time with this process, get professional help when needed, and make sure you understand all of the information. This is another area where a franchise consultant can help you out.
3. Be professional and follow the process. When exploring a franchise opportunity, make sure you follow their process. Be professional and don’t skip calls with them. If you’re too busy, just let them know. It’s better to say “no” or “not now” than to disappear while they are trying to get ahold of you. Remember, they are also evaluating you as a potential owner, and they may turn you down if you don’t follow their process.

Choosing What’s Right For You

So, if you’re still asking what’s right for you, here are some thoughts:

• If you want to follow your passion, like do a tech startup or build a business around a hobby, then it’s best to start from scratch. Just be aware that the failure rate is higher.
• If you don’t have business experience and want the lowest risk, explore franchising. Even if you don’t go this route in the end, you can learn a lot from talking to a few franchises.
• If you want to buy a business, you’re limited to what’s available, and watch out for lemons. As a side note, there are sometimes franchises for sale, and that can be a great way to get a head start, but I recommend to pick the franchise brand first and then see if they have any resales.
• If you want a part-time business where you can keep your job, spend time with family, or semi-retire like I have, there are a few options. You can start something as a side business, such as a travel agency or Airbnb, or there are franchises designed for part-time ownership.

I hope this article was helpful, and please feel free to reach out if you’d like to have a free consultation to talk about your options!

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