Why Do You Want to Be a Franchisee? Answering the Most Important Question, Part 1

In 2021, I posted about?having a vision for your franchise business: what it is and why you need one. A strong vision is important for the success of your business, and it will help keep you and your employees motivated to perform with excellence at work. I’ve realized, however, that some of the candidates I work with need to start even earlier in the process and figure out their vision for?themselves. They’re interested in franchising, but they’re not completely sure?why?they want to be a franchisee. If that sounds like you, keep reading. I’ll share some of the ways I help uncertain candidates figure out their answer to that all-important question.

Why do you need a why?

Especially if you’ve?worked for a large corporation for many years, it can be easy to lose sight of your why: the big-picture reason you feel motivated to get up, go to work, and do your best every day. After a certain amount of time, that process can become just another routine. In fact, that’s why many candidates come to me in the first place. They no longer feel excited about their work and want to recapture some of the enthusiasm they remember feeling when it was all shiny and new.

But that’s not a why. Defining your why by a lack of something, or as the desire to “just do something different” isn’t going to sustain you. Life is not perfect, so you’ll always be able to find something you lack as a franchisee. And if you stick with franchising long enough, at least some parts of it will become familiar and routine.

You also shouldn’t substitute your business’s why for your own personal why. It can be easy to fall into that trap as a business owner–hard to see where the business ends and you begin. Whether the franchise’s why comes from the franchisor, or you come up with it, it’s the reason why you want the?business?to succeed. It doesn’t explain why you want to be a franchisee in the first place.

So why does this all matter anyway? Because–I’ll be brutally honest here–being a business owner is hard sometimes. The simple act of becoming a franchise owner is a major change, and change (even good change) is always challenging. In the early days, you might not have much?work-life balance?as you get your business off the ground. You may have to go?without a paycheck?until your franchise is profitable. And even once your business is humming along, you’ll hit snags. Remember how I said life isn’t perfect? Business isn’t, either. The?franchise business system?helps eliminate a lot of the uncertainty of entrepreneurship, but bad stuff still happens. Equipment breaks. Some employees turn out to be dishonest. Competitors sometimes steal customers. You’ll be better able to weather all these bumps in the road if you have a strong sense of why you chose this path.

How do you find your why?

So how do you figure out why you want to be a franchisee??Self-assessment, pure and simple. You’ve got to take some time to sit with yourself, with your spouse if you’re married, and perhaps with a trusted friend or a consultant, and think through what’s going on in your heart and mind.

I mentioned earlier that you shouldn’t define your why as a lack of something. However, if you’re feeling?dissatisfied at work?(or just in general), that can be a good place to start the process of determining your motivation. Try to figure out why you feel dissatisfied. What’s the first thought that goes through your head when you wake up each morning? What’s missing from your day? Now, think about what will fill that gap. That’s a window into your why.

Another way to approach this process: think ahead in time. Where do you want to be ten years from now? What will make you feel satisfied with how you used the intervening time? When you look back on this period of your life, what will make you feel like you have no regrets (or, conversely, is there anything that will feel like a wasted opportunity or bad choice)? Your answers to these questions can help you figure out what matters most to you.

And, of course, I’m here to help. The first step in?my consulting process?is Understanding: assessing your own values, goals, and resources to help you figure out whether franchising is the right path for you. If that sounds helpful, we can start the process with just a 20-minute call.?Book some time on my calendar?to get started!