Monday, February 24, 2014
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Franchise Myths
There are many franchise myths out there. Today we will be looking at a few of the more common ones and debunking them. This could be beneficial to know before you invest all your hard earned money into a business franchise that is touted as a win-win situation, which could actually be a situation that could set you up for ultimate failure and a major loss of revenue. So, here are the top franchise myths you need to look out for and be aware of in your journey to owning your own business.
- You will never fail as an owner of a franchise. You need to realize that failure can happen in any type of business venture, even franchises. The franchise model may be the best business model out there for many people, but nothing is perfect. You can have the best location and the best business plan and still fail. People make mistakes and what is trendy now will not always be trendy. A franchise may be less likely to fail, but you can never totally eliminate the chance of failure.
- The franchisor will provide everything. They do provide a lot of things to help your business succeed, such as the business model, support and guidance, their brand name and technology, just to name a few. However, there are things that only the franchisee can provide, such as motivation, determination, and the necessary skills needed in management, operations and human resources. The franchisor wants to see you succeed and will help you in every way possible, but there are some things you will have to bring to the table in order to help your business succeed.
- Owning a franchise is easy. You should remember if it were easy, everyone would be doing it. We know that not everyone owns a franchise. This is mostly because they require an investment, and the return on this investment can be risky, as with any business venture. There are many ways that owning a franchise can lower your risk of failure, but as stated before, there is always a chance you will not succeed. Owning a franchise, just like owning a business, means you have full responsibility of everything. You may need to work long hours to ensure your business is operating at its full potential. It can be aggravating and frustrating at many times, but you have to get used to it and suck it up because it takes a lot of hard work and ingenuity to make any business successful and profitable.
- Franchise agreements are not negotiable. In order to own a franchise, you will have to sign a franchise agreement with the franchisor. This is a legally binding contract between you and the franchisor. Before you sign this, you should hire a franchise attorney to look over every minute detail with you. Most people think that you can not negotiate on a franchise agreement; however, there may be some wiggle room allowed. The best thing is to always ask because if you do not ask, you will never know. If you are uncomfortable with something, you can always have your franchise attorney talk with the franchisor and see if a happy medium can be found but do not expect to always get your way, there may be some things the franchisor will not bend.
- Franchise loans are easier to get. This may have been true before the economic downturn, but now the banks are consistently looking for ways to say no to anyone that wants to obtain a small business loan for a start-up business, franchise or non-franchise. The banks may be slowly coming around; however, small business loan approvals still have plenty of room to grow. We can only remain optimistic that things will continue to get better on the loan front, but you should not believe that your loan will get approved faster or even get approved at all, just because you are buying a franchise. It is difficult for everyone out there right now. There are no exclusions, so do not have high hopes when applying for any type of loan.
These days owning any type of business can be risky. Your dream of owning your own business can be extremely difficult, but it can be worth all the hard work and headaches. All you need to do is research and plan ahead for any type of situation that may arise. I do not want you to give up on your dream of owning a business. I just want you to be prepared. To help you on your path to owning a successful franchise, you should always make sure that the franchise you choose is the right fit for your location, is well within your means and is a concept that you are passionate about and excites you. You want to love your work because you just may end up spending a lot of your time there.
Thursday, February 6, 2014
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