Letting go
Heather Rosen
Business Search Advisor, Franchise Expert, Franchisee, Travel Planner, Writer, and Theatre Critic
One of the silver linings of COVID-19 was that most of the animal shelters emptied out in April. It seems that a lot of people wanted a cat or dog to shelter in place with during the pandemic. I already have a hermit crab and dog, a 9 lb Maltese named Maggie, but we wanted some fun, new projects to take our minds off of the state of the world, so we added a few nontraditional pets – several plants (including some low-maintenance succulents), a sourdough starter that produced wild yeast (which we named “Breadly Cooper”) and some baby caterpillars that eventually grew into Painted Lady butterflies.
Yesterday was the day to open the cage and let them fly free, and what happened next was very interesting.
I expected them all to fly out as soon as the cages were opened. They had been hanging out near the cage opening, so I assumed they would all fly to their freedom as soon as they saw the opportunity to escape. But they didn’t, and 20 minutes later, 2 of the 10 butterflies we raised were still in the cage, eating and basking in the sunshine. Turns out they were not as unhappy as we had thought, and in fact, we had to coax them to leave. Even the first ones to leave the nest – the bravest of the butterflies - did not fly out right away. They cautiously crawled to the opening, flew back down to the bottom of the cage, crawled up toward the opening again, and repeated this action a few times before flying away.
But after they made the decision to leave, they never came back. They flew higher and higher until they were out of sight. They never even came back for the oranges we left outside in case they were unable to find their own food. It seems that once they tasted freedom, there was nothing that could get them to return to the site of the cage they started out in.
As someone in the business of working with people who are considering going into business for the first time or adding new a business to their portfolio, I saw some definite parallels. Being cautious is natural. It is built into in the DNA. Like the butterflies, most people do not rush into big decisions – in fact, some people choose not to deal with the reality that it is time to break free - even if they know there are much better options out there for them.
When I guide people through a franchise search, the bravest ones take 2 months to make the decision, but most people take 3 to 4 months - making calls, visiting locations, interviewing other franchisees, asking dozens of questions. And even then, it rarely feels comfortable, in fact, most of my clients panic at the last minute. But then, at their own pace, they let go of their old lives and fly free as business owners with flexible schedules and no more bosses, boards or committees that have the power to hold them back. And while there are always jobs or contracts to fall back on, most of my clients never go back to working for someone else.
Contact us if you know someone who is ready to let go and fly free.
To your success,
Heather
Live Webinars (pre-registration required)
Franchising for Veterans
Thursday, October 22, 2020 | 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM
Leadership skills and perseverance learned in the military make veterans attractive candidates for several franchises, and some of them have successfully recruited large numbers of veterans by offering special discounts and perks. But there is no one-size-fits all franchise for military veterans, so how do you find the best one for YOU? This webinar will cover incentives and programs for veterans who want to start a business with the help of a franchise, funding incentives, as well as which military skill sets best align with various types of franchises.
Franchise Ownership 101
Thursday, November 5, 2020 | 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM
Starting a business through a franchise is often the shortest path to profitability, and some of them require as little as $50K to start and simply operate out of a home office – there is no food and no retail space to rent. But how do you find the good ones and not pay too much (or too little) for your business? Learn everything from how to find the right franchise for you, to which state and local regulations you must be aware of before signing a franchise agreement, to which franchises do well (and don’t do well) in our region. We will also cover funding options.