An Introduction to Excuses

After nearly thirty years in the Franchising industry, Mariel Miller has heard them all. And they all begin with the same words: "I can't do this because. . . "

One of the most popular ways people have of talking themselves out of a happy future is by deciding, without doing their homework, that they cannot afford it. But Mariel Miller, who has spent her professional career in franchising, hears it all the time. "What people learn when they allow someone with my experience to assist them is that the franchisor wants you to succeed."

Indeed, a lot of things need to be researched before someone decides that he or she cannot afford a franchise. As Miller told SHRM, “There was a time when the franchisor would remain fairly neutral on many human resource issues, except perhaps to guide the incoming franchisee to a book or other resource to find hiring guidelines." But now? “They are beginning to realize that it is the people who make or break the franchise,” she says.

One of Mariel Miller's biggest challenges is to illustrate to people what franchising is all about. "If you look in a thesaurus, you'll see some interesting synonyms for the word itself. Examples are: Authorization, Exemption, Suffrage, Prerogative--and my personal favorite: Freedom."

Then what gets in the way? It's not that people do not want freedom and security. They just get locked into a belief that doing what they have always done generates a personal and routine predictability. Death and taxes are predictable too, but there should be more to life than that. "I hear people get it wrong all day long. They say that with a franchise they are just buying themselves a job or that the franchisors will nickle and dime them to death. And of course the biggest excuse is that the person cannot afford it. But when you work with a knowledgeable, experienced franchise advisor, one of the things you discover immediately is that franchising today is a lot more than a convenience store or McDonald's. The fact is that franchising is a way of creating generational wealth."

But what about not being able to afford to invest in a franchise? "Eighty percent of all my deals come within the range of $75,000 and $750,000."

So with franchisor support, SBA financing options and the goal of securing financial freedom, what should an interested prospective franchise-buyer do first?

"Do a little research. Get my eBook. Visit my website. A lot of information exists out there. Then schedule a fifteen-minute consult with me. Your future is certainly worth that much of an investment."