Building a Business, Buying a Business, or Being an Employee
by Jay Markunas, Career Consultant
Many people today are looking for alternatives to being an employee. Of course, there’s certainly nothing wrong with being an employee. In fact, Merri Cronk of FranNet - who appeared on the Job Search Boot Camp Show on Saturday, says that her company doesn’t only help match potential business owners to franchises. Her company will also help those who think they want to own a business, but decide they really want to be an employee instead. And, they do all this for free (the franchisor pays their fee). We had a great show with her, but had a few minor technical difficulties at the beginning. The edited version is at the link above, and we invite you to listen to the show — it was a really good one!
Is Franchise Ownership Right For Everyone?
We asked Merri what are the characteristics of a good franchisee. Characteristics you may posess naturally - sales, marketing, management, and customer service are skills that the owner should have experience in — at least one of the characteristics. The franchise system should have built-in mechanisms to help the owner be successful in the other areas that he/she may not be as strong. Many talents & skills can make a good business owner - unless the person is without drive and ambition- as long as they are willing to surround themselves by people who can fill-in the gaps.
Isn’t All Fast Food?
One mis-conception that people have about franchises is that all the opportunities are only fast food. However, Merri informs us that there are many other kinds of franchises. Food franchising accounts for only about 30% of the available franchises. Retail, automotive, home & personal services, and business-to-business concepts like staffing or outsourced IT services are many that may go unnoticed.
When a business owener purchases a franchise, they are purchasing a proven system. McDonalds doesn’t make the best hamburgers in the world, they have one of the greatest systems in the world - a system so fine-tuned that high-school students can run the business with little or no supervision.
If you want to purchase a system, pick a great franchise. If you want to build something from the ground up, start your own business. And, if you want to focus on your specific strengths to help a company grow and thrive, be an employee. Whatever you are, make sure you are having fun doing it. There are plenty of fun jobs, businesses, and franchises to go around!