Franchise ownership; is it just buying a job!

Written by Glenn Griffin

If you purchase a franchise are you just buying yourself a job?

Without seeming to state the obvious some will say yes and some will say no; it’s all a matter of how you perceive the circumstances and what actions you take.

Many people, will for various reasons leave a salaried job to purchase and operate a business of their own, often this will be a franchise of some description. Because they are buying a franchise business the vision they have is an endless flow of cash, reduced working hours, greater security. They believe they are buying a ticket to easystreet.

Often none of this eventuates and they find themselves working longer and harder than before, with less security and for less money. It doesn’t need to be this way; but you have to make wise, informed decisions.

I have been involved in the operation of established systems for more than 30 years and been directly involved in the franchising industry for the last 6 years.

My initial functions in franchising were training and development, this was expanded out to involve most areas of the business, however in the last 4 years my duties focused primarily on franchisee recruitment and site selection. In this role I was able to increase franchise numbers in a second tier franchise chain by 51 territories; almost doubling the group numbers.

As a result of this involvement I have had the opportunity to meet hundreds of prospective franchisees and existing franchise owners. So what have I been able to glean from this experience.

As an employee in a job you have little or no say in the terms and conditions of that job, however as a franchise owner whilst you have little control over the franchise model and the manner in which the franchisor operates the system you have purchased, you do have control over many aspects of your individual franchise business within that system.

The less successful franchisees are often the ones that have not identified the things they can control, or they just simply chose not to exercise that ability to take control.

How do you avoid the difficulties of establishing a business or overcoming some of the problems you may strike in running a business; well you buy an established system and one that has most of the bugs ironed out; you buy a franchise.

When you purchase a franchise in most instances you are purchasing an established system, and one that has many, if not all the problems sorted out. All the suppliers should be in place; the marketing and advertising already established; a brand awareness already established; the operational aspects all sorted out; proper and adequate training ready to be delivered; the administration of the group in place, and the intellectual property available for use, in other words all of the establishment has been done for you.

OK, so the system is in place but are you going to need to put in some effort yourself; you sure are. I once read that the only time success comes before work is in the dictionary. Like most other aspects in life you will need to take action to gain the result. There is always something that can be done or something that can be changed which will give you a different result and that is within your power to do so.

As a generalisation within most franchise chains a small percentage do extremely well; a majority do well; and a small percentage struggle, some of these will cease to trade. The trick is to make sure you are as close to the top as you can be, these are the people who do the little extra things.

So back to our original question; If you purchase a franchise are you just buying yourself a job; my answer is decidedly NO; however you must undertake due diligence, and chose your franchise chain wisely. You must understand clearly what it is you are purchasing and what you are going to need to do. It does not matter how competent or experienced you are, you will need help. Make sure you get it!

Glenn Griffin was the Franchise Development Manager for Cold Rock Ice Creamery for 6 years and now is a freelance consultant to the industry.
About Glenn

Between 1994 and 2004 Glenn also owned and operated a corporate training and personal development company that provided training and development sessions and exercises to business and industry. Glenn’s clients ranged from government organisations to franchise chains to multi- national corporate entities and included the likes of Australia Post, The Australian Army, Bridgestone, South East Water and Battery World.

Operating the training company the required skills were:-

• Project management
• Needs assessment & analysis
• Training program formulation
• Delivery of training sessions & workshops
• Formulation of financial budgets
• Sales presentation & negotiation

In January 2003 Glenn was successful in winning  a contract to provide customer service training for stores within the Cold Rock Group. As a direct consequence of his performance and the outstanding results achieved, he was  appointed “National Franchise Development Manager” for Cold Rock, and responsible for the sourcing of prospective franchisees, the store sites, and for the conduct of the sales process.

Over a 4 year period the role has been expanded to incorporate lease negotiation, store design, franchisee finance, equipment procurement and fit-out co-ordination as well as involvement in the operational aspects of the business.

Glenn has been a driving force within the business, and has  grown the group from 51 operational stores and 54 established territories to 91 operational stores and 105 established territories.

Glenn’s friendly but firm approach, coupled with his exposure to new and existing franchisees he has been able to establish a high level of confidence and respect from these business owners. This forms the basis of a solid and ongoing franchisor-franchisee relationship into the future.

Contact Glenn