Making the decision of buying into a franchise can be tough. However, if you have the entrepreneurial streak in you, nothing should hold you back.

For years I have been reading articles about franchisors’ desire to select franchisees that are not too entrepreneurial and involve recruiting business people, who are interdependent rather than independent. Of course, there is some truth to this notion, but overall, franchising requires that franchisor and franchisee work together as a team. In this context, the concepts of entrepreneurship and franchising complement each other nicely. The franchisor is expected to provide the proven business model, trademark, marketing image, branding, and systems. The franchisees are expected to provide intimate knowledge of their specific region, strong marketing efforts, and have a “follow the rules” mind set. But for most prospective franchisees to take the leap into business ownership, they also need to develop an entrepreneurial spirit.

Consider a prospect from my own experience in franchise sales. This prospect was well qualified in many ways to take on franchise ownership. There was only one problem – he had a really hard time making the decision about whether to buy into the opportunity. Let me set the stage. He had done a thorough job of due diligence. He had reviewed the company’s Franchise Business Plan, with his chartered accountant and his friends. He had created a list of questions for franchisees of the system, asked his questions, and received responses. He had even visited two of my franchisees, getting a real-life feel for the workings of the business and the pluses and minuses of the franchise system. Yet, he felt unable to come to a decision. As I guided him through this decision-making process, I finally said this: “Your home work has been superb. You have done everything you can possibly do to get clear on this opportunity. Even though you may feel there is still one more question that will make this perfectly clear, there is no such magic question. It is truly time to come to a decision.

May I help you put on your entrepreneur’s hat? You know, each of us has to have a good bit of entrepreneurial skill in order to move into our own business.”

Imagine that you do decide to move forward. As a franchisee, you will be required to make immediate and even long-lasting business decisions with as much confidence as possible. Maybe you will be faced with a decision on the type of loan to pursue and its terms — or a decision on whether to rent or buy your space. Or maybe you will be asked to make build-out decisions quickly so that you can open your unit in
time for peak opportunity. You get the picture.

Owners of both independent and franchised businesses are called upon to make entrepreneurial decisions each and every day. Decision-making is part of the package called business ownership. So put on your entrepreneur’s hat, please, when pursuing the franchise purchase decision. It may be what convinces your franchisor that you are the right one for the system.

If you are daring, willing to do things differently, if you have faith in your ability, if you are passionate about what you are doing, if you are focused towards your goals and ambition, may be your time has come to go via franchising route and be a leader in your category of business.

Advantages of opting Franchisee Route:
1. You get the first hand knowledge from the franchisor that has a well tested, proven, successful and executable business model.
2. Not having prior business experience is not a taboo here.
3. You get the benefit of brand image of the company, logo, trainings, marketing tips and a researched business model.
4. Your risk element while starting a new business is minimised by joining hands with the franchisor.
5. The franchisor plays the role of a mentor for your business model through out the franchising period.
6. Your local networking and connectivity coupled with the franchisor’s experience and expertise doubles the chances of getting positive results in your effort.
The list is endless. Hence, if the “entrepreneur inside you” needs to be woken up, grab the opportunity whenever you get a wake up call from any good franchisee opportunity.