“I can’t find a job” is Not a Good Reason to Buy a Franchise

It’s not a good idea to buy a franchise because you can’t find a job. That’s like getting married because you don’t want to be single. These aren’t the best reasons. In either scenario things could work out for you, but they probably won’t.

You should buy a franchise only because it makes sense to do so. And making sense of franchising involves many hours of work spread across at least several weeks or months. It’s sort of like dating . . . it’s what you do until you fall in love and decide to get married. And while it’s a good idea to continue dating your spouse even after you get married, a franchise doesn’t demand romance. It just demands more work.

You like to work? Then you might like franchising.

Does it work for you?

Making sense of franchising does not begin with finding a franchise that you want to buy. That’s like getting married before you know if marriage makes sense for you. Is buying a franchise the right thing, or the best thing, for you to do?

Few people, it seems to me, spend enough time thinking about what it means to own a franchise. They think about the product or service the franchise offers, and how they might enjoy working in that industry. They think about what it would be like not to have a boss, and how they would enjoy building a business they owned. All of these are benefits that can be derived from franchising, but what about the act of franchising?

Good questions to ask

Before you marry yourself to a franchise concept, or at least while you’re thinking about making that long-term commitment, you really need to ask these questions:

“Can I do it? Can I be a franchisee?” To answer that, you have to ask and answer what it means to be a franchisee.

“Are we compatible? Does franchising make sense for me?” To answer that, you have to know what franchising requires.

“Do I want to do it?” You’ll know that answer after you answer the earlier questions and find an appealing franchise opportunity.

“If I found a job that I’d really love, a once in a lifetime type of job, would I still want to be a franchisee?” If you answer honestly, you’ll know what to do.

A job may be your preference

If what you really want is a job, and if you’re more compatible with being an employee than a franchisee, then don’t buy a franchise. Keep looking for that job. And if you enjoy being single, or you’d rather be single than married, or you can’t make a long-term commitment, or you could live without the benefits of marriage, then don’t get married!

Categorised in: Blog Articles, Buy a Franchise, Franchise Compatibility, Franchise due diligence, Questions to ask to buy a franchise

This post was written by Dr. John Hayes