Having your own business is the American dream and, increasingly, international interest in owning a business has been building as well.
There are many questions that must be answered before you consider owning a franchise or starting any business at all.
The first question to ask yourself is: “Do I really have the right mindset that is required to work for myself”? The reason this question is first is because without the attitude, drive, and ability to focus on long term goals, you will not be happy owning your own business whether it be a franchise or anything else.
This is not a “get rid of the boss” and live happily ever after situation. It will require many hours of hard work, much dedication, always tough decisions and, most likely, many times where you must put the business first over your own needs.
If you do not have the stomach or the drive to do this, then continue getting a regular paycheck and forget a business of your own. You will find your customers to be much more demanding than any boss could ever be! Along with this introspection, is the question: “How have I worked on my own in previous situations?” Is this a new or untried product or service, do I enjoy the experience of working for myself, can I survive pressure and can I actually keep myself going when tough decisions have to be made? These are all questions that must be answered before attempting any franchise business.
Consider Franchising - But Watch Out!
June 1, 2006 by Mark | 1 Comment
In Franchising in USA and/or Canada, News
Bob Stewart on March 20th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Franchisor Ethics. I agree with all of the comments on the need for franchisees to clear on the effort required to make any franchise succeed. However, there is an added dimension that any potential franchisee must also consider. That is the ethics and business practices of the franchisor. Take a look at http://www.cdicorp.info and see how a large global recruitment franchisor misrepresented for years who was and was not a real franchisee. As MRI Network franchisees are trained and encouraged to interwork this led to obvious problems. That problem was compounded by that fact that the bogus franchisee had growing debts to MRI Network of more than $300,000 USD. Take a look at the facts and form your own opinion on their ethics.