Are you buying a job or investing in a career?

Greetings,

Road Warriors- Don't you hate it when you are handed a hotel key and go to the room and open the door and start to walk in, and realize that there is already someone in the room? Welcome to my world again today. When I went back downstairs and told the young guy at the desk he just said that was twice he did that today. I just hope somebody doesn't get hurt with all this walking in on strangers. This was at a newer very large Holiday Inn Express in the DFW area.

Now to the topic,are you thinking about buying a job or investing in a career? If you already have a franchise, which is it for you? I visited two new franchisees the last two days in the DFW area. One bought a job, one invested in a career. They are about the same age.

Franchisee1, lost his job. He had been a morgage counselor and lost his job due to the economy. He has had a couple of other jobs in the last 10 years. He was fed up with working for someone else. He wanted to control his own future. He has money in his 401K to spend, so he bought a franchise. The only problem is that he isn't interested in doing any of the work. He bought himself a job and he wants to be the President, CEO, and boss everyone else around. The only problem is that there are no customers, no employees, and until he gets out the door and starts creating business, he is a one man show. Let's say it is a Merry Maids type franchise. He is the boss, the house cleaner, the salesman, everything. He doesn't want to do any of the physical work, he just wants to be the boss. He rarely calls me, he just makes all the decisions and hopes they are right. He is finally busy being the Dad he could never be working for someone else. He goes to everything his kids do. He spends several hours a day being with the kids.

Franchisee2. He had a successful business career going as a Therapist. He made lot of money, but it tired of doing the same thing for 25 years. He wants to learn a new career. He is reading everything he can about cleaning equipment, he is planning his marketing, calling on friends and neighbors to get the business going and is doing all the work himself even though he he had never done it before in his life. He calls me 3 times a day to check on what direction to head. He spends about the same amount of time with his kids, but more quality time since he can now schedule around them and do some of the work while they are asleep.

Which one do I think will be successful? I think they both could be, but Franchisee2 has taken it to heart to completely change his life and so I think he will be around for a long time. Even if he changes his mind down the road, he will have built up a good business and have something to sell.

If you are thinking about buying a franchise, ask yourself what your motives are, and don't lie to yourself. One of my favorite franchisees tells me that he is lazy and won't be over extending himself and that's just the way he is. I can accept that. Be honest with yourself. Are you buying a job, or investing in a new career and a new future?

Franchising and Women

Good day,

As I pack up to hit the road again tomorrow morning, I was thinking about the difference in visiting men and women franchisees. Both can be successful franchisees, but women do tend to be more organized and keep their employees longer.

Depending on the type of franchise, there is no reason a woman can't be successful. I really can't think of a franchise that a women couldn't own and run, but just as I don't think men would be a right fit for a Curves (women only exercising) there are probably a few things best left to the men.

In general, the women seem to be able to put themselves in the shoes of a customer better and therefore have better customer service. They tend to communicate better so are better at running a business where you have to talk to customers directly.

When a franchise is run by a couple, the woman is usually the one who is on the phone with customers, doing the bookkeeping, and keeping things organized. In the franchises I visit, he is out selling and doing the out-of-office work. He comes in and hands her a pile of papers and she gives him another list to work on. She usually acts as the planet the husband revolves around and the arrangement works well.

I have heard it said that two women can not work together well. I don't believe that and think that two women can work very well together especial if one is a type A and the other a B. Just like two men, or a man-woman couple, it is all about the personalities, work ethic, and focus on success.

Unfortunately, there are not that many women that own their own franchise business. Once they buy one, they are committed to it like a marriage and they make it work. I have had male franchisees quit their business after 8 weeks. I have had several men just shut their doors and get another job within a few months of paying the price to buy the franchise. writting it off as changing their minds about wanting to make that kind of committment.

All in all, both sexes can be equally successful owning a franchise. I think that anyone that buys a franchise should do all the research possible to make sure that it is what they want to do and that they believe in their hearts they can be successful. It is more than just believing that the franchise can be successful, and believing that other people have bought the same franchise and were successful. You must believe that YOU can be successful. That's all that really matters.

Fran

What will tomorrow be like a year from now?

If you have a franchise or are thinking about buying one, or if you have any kind of business, you need to have a plan and a map.

What will tomorrow be like a year from now? If you don't have a picture in your head of what you want your future day to be like in 365 days, you can't expect things to be any different than they are now. Is it easier to put a puzzle together if you can look at the picture of what it is supposed to look like or easier to just pick up pieces and start putting together a picture? Of course it is easier to have a picture to look at! You have 365 pieces, or say 730 half day pieces to put together to make your picture look like what you want it to by this time next year.

Let's stop and make a mental picture. What is your business like? How many customers do you have, or how much revenue are you bringing in each day? What are you doing on a typical day?

OK, now let's think about where you are at now it relation to the picture of next year and let's set some goals. Let's divide the difference in customers or revenue in half and set that as a goal for 6 months from now. Let's divide it again. If you want you can map it out monthly.

We have our goals, now let's look at the time and/or money it will take to reach each of those goals and commit to expending the resources. Do you need to hire more help, or buy new equipment? Put that in the plan. Continue to fill in the variables you have in your circumstances until you see the whole picture. When will you have time off? Put that in. You have to have the details of the picture for it all to fit.

OK, here comes the hard part. Make your goals known to others. This will help you stay on track and be more committed. Tell the people you work with, your spouse, your mentor, and anyone else that will ask you how you are doing. If you have a franchise, tell your field representative your goal. Post your goals around the office, in your home office, on the refrigerator, anywhere you will be faced with them everyday.

Lastly, build in rewards along the way. Besides hating to tell people that you aren't doing what you said you would do, you need more incentive. Reward yourself with time off doing fun things, buying yourself something you have been wanting, whatever it is that motivates you.

The old saying "You don' t plan to fail, you fail to plan" has been around a long time because it is so true.

Paint a picture of your future, then make it come true.

Fran

Learn and Practice Time Management

Greetings from the frigid North,

Thanks first of all for posting another great comment!!

I have been listening to some tapes that discuss what it takes to be successful. It was taped in a room full of millionaires. They all agree on several things and one of them is that to be successful, you have to manage your time.

Yes, there are things that throw you off track, even if you have a plan. I wrote this blog two times already. I wrote it in an airport terminal in one part of the country, but it didn't save and I had to turn my Blackberry off on the plane. Then I tried again last night and it wouldn't post. I wasted time and it wasn't my fault. But I had it prioritized and came back to it when I could. I had a plan.

How many of you plan tomorrow the day before? How many of you have daily things that you do every single day before you go to bed that will help your business? Most franchisees I talk to don't have a plan. They know more or less what they will probably do. Never have I had one say that they will do "this at 7, then this at 10, then this at 11, etc" . Even the ones that are semi-structured during the main part of the day are not structured in the mornings and evenings. And then they wonder why they don't get things done.

I talked to a franchisee yesterday that said "I hardly have any customers right now, so I have lots of free time to slack off and do whatever I want to do until I get busy". What about getting busy getting customers? If you don't have enough customers to keep busy, then you need to be working on your marketing.

What takes up your time during the day and can someone else do it? That is what you need to ask yourself. If you don't have enough customers and you spent yesterday putting gas in your car, mowing the yard, going to the PO, checking E-mail, picking up the kids, etc, you are not using your resources wisely. Pay a high school person or someone to run your errands, and get some customers. Go to a business networking group or business social group and meet some new people to buy whatever it is you are selling instead of watching TV or playing fantasy football. If you have all the money you need and want and all the customers you need and want, then never mind. If you need money, you need customers, and they aren't going to come to your house and stop you while you wash your car and ask you if they can buy something.

If you own a business, you make a decision several times a day whether or not to use your time to grow your business or just cruise along. If you are thinking about buying a franchise, you have to be able to look in the mirror and truthful decide if you can focus on a business and make good choices with your time everyday.

Fran

Three Types of Franchisees

I loved the comment I received on the post so much, that I want to write about that today.
First, thanks for the hilarious comment. You are right. Franchisees more or less fit in one of 3 categories and then several sub-categories.

For those of you reading this because you are contemplating buying a franchise, this is good information because you will fit in one of these categories and also interact with people in the other categories.

If you are buying a franchise to be your own boss.......

you are not alone. I think that is the biggest group of franchisees. If you are a go-getter and feel like you can sell anything to anyone and are good with money, and have a good business head, you will probably be very successful. Owning this business will give you a chance to spend more time with your family and your income will not be limited by others. However, if you are buying the franchise so you can spend half of your time with your kids, or because you didn't get along with people where you have worked in the past, or because your wife or husband thinks you should be making more money and this is your best hope of a better income, you might want to rethink the idea.

You know those "Your probably a redneck if........" sayings of Jeff Foxworthy?

You probably shouldn't buy a franchise if............

You haven't kept a job more than 3 years even if "it wasn't your fault".
You are buying it because somebody died and you are buying it to put the money to good use.
You are buying it because nobody will hire you because of your driving or police record.
You need the exercise outside because you have been working inside your whole life.
You need to work inside in an office because you have been working outside your whole life.
You want to learn something new and don't know the first thing about the business you are buying.
You can't balance your checkbook.
You have gone through personal bankruptcy.
Your husband/wife/partner has always taken care of all the financial decisions.
You don't know how to drive.
You are going to be a bad example of whatever you are selling i.e. a car wash franchisee that always has a filthy car, a maid service fran. with a dirty house, a hamburger chain fran. that is always eating at the Mexican restaurant.

There are good franchisees that make a ton of money and are very successful. If you are on the computer reading a blog about franchisees, you are probably a good candidate.

Fran

If I Buy A Franchise, Do I Need To Know How To Use A Computer

Greetings from Nebraska,

Today I visited a new franchise with new franchisees. They were struggling with the business part of their business, due to lack of computer skills. ANY computer skills!!!!!

Unfortunately knowing at least basic computer skills is necessary. This franchisee in Nebraska has a big hill to climb. When he asked how to save a file, I knew he was in trouble. Then when I told him to check his Internet connection, he of course didn't know how, so he wrote everything down........"Start" "Control Panel".........

We did some basic "Cut and Paste", how to check E-Mail, how to back up the files, and how to print. This is someone that just bought a new business and needs to be spending time getting customers. Instead he will be fumbling around on the computer half the time. I encouraged him to get "Video Professor" or take a basic class or something, but he didn't think it would be necessary. I visit one other franchise that has someone that also doesn't know computer basics. They have only a few customers because they spend half their time writing out their work, their customer information, their checks, their invoices, etc.

Yes, you need to know how to use a computer if you buy a franchise. Even if you have someone that is going to be your office person, you still need to know the basics. You will need to know some Windows basics. Better still, some Microsoft Office basics. Starting up a new business is not the time to spend hours trying to figure out how to attach a file to E-mail.

Fran

Hotels- A Franchise Reps Home

Greetings from the road,

I wanted to comment about some of my favorite and least favorite hotels.
First, let me say that I stay in mid-priced hotels usually in the Intercontinental Hotels chain for work. For personal trips I have stayed at great hotels, but I will keep this to business.

My favorite two are a tie. First is the Holiday Inn Express in Hot Springs, AR and second place goes to Holiday Inn Express in Grand Prairie, TX. Both of these hotels go the extra mile. They are very hospitable, they have sacks of snacks and water waiting in the rooms for Priority members and they automatically upgrade you to a better room. Both have above average breakfasts, with additional hot food. Hot Springs has ham, (real ham), eggs, breakfast sandwiches, and much more. Of the 50 different hotels I have stayed at this year, they have the best free breakfast. They are also the only ones with free postcards and old towels that you can take and keep.

Some of my least favorite hotels are an old La Quinta in Irving, TX , Holiday Inn in Nashville, TN, and Holiday Inn of the Westbank in New Orleans. These hotels had outside doors, were old, dirty, and scary and I would never stay there again.

In Birmingham, AL I was given the wrong room number and was trying to get into the wrong room with my key. A man in the shower came to the door and told me he already had that room. In North Carolina, I was in a room and they gave a key to my room to someone that just checked in and the man came into the room. I don't know who scared who more.

I have several that are in between, but I will be commenting on these along with the franchise visits.

The idea of a franchise is more or less to give licenses to people who want to follow your business model and take advantage of the established processes to grow a business. If you go into Subway, you know what you are going to see on the menu. They aren't offering BBQ and steaks and offering to deliver it to your house. Same with any franchise, you go to the hotel, store, restaurant, etc, you know what you should expect. The problems is......human nature. The problem is........a franchisee thinks they are Donald Trump and they can change the business into what they think it should be. That's where the problems starts. It is kind of like finding the person of your dreams to marry. Your perfect, lets get married, now you need to change.

That's where I come in.

The Personality of a Franchise Rep

Greetings from a hotel near you,

If you don't have patience, sense of humor, and the ability to hold your tongue, you don't have what it takes to travel around the country visiting franchisees.

I visited two franchisees the other day that each had half of a large Southern city as their territories. The first franchisee I met with didn't have a clue. When I asked him how many new customers he wanted to add next year and what his plans were for marketing next year he said that he wanted to gain 50 customers next year. He only had 150 customers and needed 400 customers to break even. He was so under motivated that he was giving himself 14 months to get 50 customers! When I asked him what he was going to do for marketing, he said he had 1,000 postcards to send out and thought that was enough, which it wasn't. The fact that he had previously not been able to kept a job so his father gave him the money to buy the franchise was shinning through. He had no idea how much revenue he was bringing in per customer. We figured it out together and came up with around $200. He wasn't computer savy, so he was doing several things by hand that he should have been doing on the computer.
Then I went across town to visit the other franchisee. He had several marketing and business books on his desk. He was working on a new web site and blog to help market his business. Without looking he told me he was bringing in around $500 per customer. He had doubled his number of customers each of the last two years and planned to do it again. He had goals posted on the walls and progress charts. He did all of that with the same 24 hours a day that the other man had.
In one day, I saw two completely different pictures. One of someone that will be going out of business at some point in the not so distant future, and one who will be buying out the other franchisee at some point in the future. Both were comfortable in their present state and didn't want any help from me.
The next day I went to visit someone that had 14 customers and had just hired an employee to take care of these 14 customers, and was planning to cut a hole in the top of a van for ventilation......

Fran

The Beginning of the Craziness

Have you ever thought about buying a franchise, but you were afraid you just weren't smart enough to succeed? Well, you will enjoy reading about some of the crazy things franchisees do and thinking to yourself that if someone like that can run a business, I certainly can.
If you own a franchise and would like to hear the good, the bad, and the ugly about things that other franchisees are doing, this blog will be for you.
If you visit franchises and see the kind of things that I do day in and day out, this blog will be for you. I hope you will comment and add your own stories as we go along.
If you are a road warrior, you will enjoy the hotel, rental car, airplane experiences. If you have dreamed of being a road warrior, you will change your mind.
I won't be able to tell you exactly which franchise I represent, due to wanting to keep my job and not wanting to embarrass the franchisees that I visit and help, but I can tell you I travel all over the US and it is a service type franchise.
Please come with me on the "Alice in Wonderland" journey that is the life of a franchise representive.