Is Franchising Right For You?

Evaluate Yourself

Your job is to make an informed business decision about whether a franchisor's business opportunity meets your needs and whether you can provide what the franchisor wants and needs in a franchisee. You need to ask yourself some basic questions:

• What do you want from life at this time?

• What are your wants, needs and desires?

• What are your goals, objectives and dreams?

• What are you looking for in a business?

• Have you decided to leave what you are doing now - not just the job, but the profession?

• Have you made a decision to become a part of another organization?

• Do you have the kind of personality that can accept running the business according to someone else's plan without feeling that it compromises your individuality?

• Can you follow somebody else's rules, even when you think you have a better way?

• Do you think you can change the franchisor's system after you are on board?

• Do you think that your local market is different from all others in the system and that the franchisor will modify the system just to suit your needs?

• Can you trust (with some honest skepticism) that your franchisor is working for the benefit of the entire system - even when his or her decisions do not necessarily go your way?

• Are you willing to share financial information and provide required reports each month? Are you prepared to accept coaching and advice on business practices from your franchisor's field staff?

• Do you have an interest in doing this kind of work for the length of the agreement?

• Have you ever worked for one company for five or ten years?

• Do you have related skills, knowledge, abilities and work-related experiences similar to the ones required for running the franchise you are considering?

• Do you have the financial resources to open and operate the business successfully?

• Can the business support your lifestyle needs?

• Which of the franchises you are now reviewing meet your financial needs both in the short and long term?

Questions to Ask Yourself

• How much capital do you have to invest?

• How much liquid assets do you have?

• Do you require a specific level of annual income?

• Are you interested in pursuing a particular field?

• Are you interested in retail sales or performing a service?

• Do you want a part-time or fulltime opportunity?

• How many hours are you willing to work?

• Do you want to be an "active" or "passive" owner?

• Do you want a "brick and mortar" business?

• Do you want to have employees?

• Do you want to have inventories?

• Do you want to have accounts receivables?

• Will franchise ownership be your primary source of income or will it supplement your current income?

• Would you be happy operating the business for the next 20 years?

• Would you like to own several outlets or only one?