Franchise Planning with Your Spouse: Why You Should Avoid the Ambush

What makes a good franchise candidate? Leadership experience , solid financials , a willingness to take calculated risks –those are all key traits for franchise success. But when I’m working with candidates, I also look for something that’s not so obvious: an involved spouse. If you’re single, you can make all the solo decisions you want. But if you’re married, I’m going to ask you to bring your spouse into the franchise planning process.

Sometimes I get pushback on this request, especially from candidates who have always been their household’s sole breadwinner. But for me, this is crucial. For several reason, success hinges on including your spouse at every step of the process.

It’s the Right Thing To Do

First and foremost, including your spouse in a major, life-altering decision is just the right thing to do. Marriages thrive on mutual trust and respect. Buying a franchise without your spouse’s input is a breach of trust and shows a lack of respect for their goals, desires, and needs. On the other hand, including your spouse in your franchise planning shows that you trust their input and respect their goals for your life together. It’s an opportunity to make your relationship even stronger as you build a meaningful legacy for your family.

Your Spouse Knows You Better Than Anyone Else

Self-assessment is always the first step in the Empowered Franchisee consulting process . There’s a reason for that: when you understand yourself and your goals , you can do a better job of figuring out what kind of franchise will fit your situation. And finding a good franchise fit, in turn, can dramatically increase your odds of success.

Especially if you’ve been married a long time, your spouse knows you better than anyone else does. And that makes them an incredibly valuable partner in self-assessment. They can help you think through your goals, account for important factors affecting your shared future, and look honestly at your strengths and weaknesses. Because I involved my wife Lauri in my self-assessment, I felt like the results were more accurate and useful than they would have been if I’d gone through the process alone.

Franchisors Expect Spousal Involvement

A franchise is a significant financial investment , often the biggest one you’ll ever make. Franchise ownership also has the potential to impact your family’s life in positive but dramatic ways. And through extensive experience, franchisors have learned that spousal support is key to a married franchisee’s chances for success (more on that in a minute).

For all these reasons and more, if you’re married, franchisors will expect your spouse to be involved in the franchise planning process. They will want to meet your spouse and will invite them to be an active participant in the final interview process at headquarters. They’ll look for your spouse to understand the key elements of franchise ownership and be enthusiastic about this new path you’re taking, even if your spouse isn’t going to be directly involved in running the franchise.

You’ll Need Your Spouse’s Support

This kind of involvement from your spouse boosts your odds of success because the franchise startup period is demanding–financially , physically, mentally, and emotionally. Brand-new franchises tend to experience more dramatic ups and downs in revenue. You’ll often find yourself facing situations you’ve never faced before, solving problems and making decisions that work new areas of your brain. And if you’re operating your franchise as a side hustle , you’ll be working longer hours at first, too.

If you don’t go the side-hustle route, your finances may be tighter in the short term. Until your franchise reaches profitability, you’ll have to rely on your spouse’s income to pay the bills , fund your living expenses from savings, or both.

To surmount these challenges successfully, you’ll need your spouse’s support. They’ll need to be willing to cheer you on, become the sole breadwinner for a while, help reduce household expenses, and/or shoulder a lopsided share of parenting duties and household chores. And which spouse is more likely to be willing to do those things: the spouse who’s been involved in franchise planning from the beginning, or the one you ambush with “Hey, honey, guess what I just did with our nest egg”? I think you know the answer.

Are you ready to start the franchise planning process–with your spouse by your side? Lauri and I have been there. Book a call with one of us to see if it makes sense to work together. We’re here to help you and your family reach your goals!

This content originally appeared on https://empoweredfranchisee.com/ .