What are the two most important things that you need to be successful in a franchise? Hint, it’s not money and passion.
In dealing with people investigating franchises for over 15 years, I have found that there are two things that people need to be very successful as a franchise owner. Most people think that it’s money & passion. It’s not. While money is the most renewable resource on the planet and you do need capital to start a business, there are many ways to borrow and fund a business.
Passion is another argument. Do you need passion for business? Yes. Do you need to be passionate about the specific business? No. I do believe you need to be passionate about what you do and what you provide, but I don’t think you need to be “passionate” about the specific product or service that you provide. I have seen people make a lot of money and be very passionate about businesses that cut hair, clean up water and mold, fix rips in leather, etc. They are passionate about business in general and great customer experience more than they are about the widget they provide.
Then, what are the two most important things that you need to be successful in a franchise?
- An insatiable hunger to achieve a goal or dream
- The ability to make a decision
Having goals and dreams is the first step to success. The path to achieving those goals and dreams isn’t always straight forward. There are obstacles that come along with business ownership, the biggest of which is fear.
Every single person who has ever made a change experiences fear & anxiety. Every single one. To get past this fear, you have to want something more and better in your life. You must move past your uncertainty for the opportunity to accomplish your goal. To put it bluntly, if you don’t have a reason to buy a business and make your life better, you never will. Why would you leave your comfort zone to work hard, invest money and attempt something you’ve never done before? You won’t. You’ll stay in the same place you are today.
The second criterion is the ability to make a decision. As you go through the franchise discovery process, you are constantly making small decisions. Think of this as building your entrepreneurial muscles. It is designed that way so that franchisors can evaluate you to see if you’re capable of making decisions. If you’re not, you will struggle as a business owner. As a business owner, you need to make decisions every day. Some are small, some are big, and the more comfortable you can get at making decisions, the better.
Want to start build your entrepreneurial muscles? Here’s how:
- Start by making decisions. Even if it’s making a small investment, choosing where to go on vacation or out to eat, what car to buy…the more comfortable you are making decisions, the more successful you will be as a franchise owner. Start practicing now! Don’t worry about the right decision to make, the one you make will be the right one for where you are today.
- Find out your reason for wanting to be a business owner. What are your goals? Do you have something that you’ve always wanted to achieve? Think of it, feel it, see it and embrace it. The more clearly you can see yourself accomplishing your goal, the better of a chance it will happen!
Think you have what it takes to be a franchisee? Ready to accomplish your goals? Call me and let’s get started. I can’t wait to hear from you!
