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Think about it. Financial freedom and exercise have a lot in common. They both can give you flexibility, reduce stress, and make you feel great. When you exercise, you reap all the benefits. The same can be said for achieving financial freedom through entrepreneurship.
The benefits of entrepreneurship include retaining your profits, making your own decisions, and deciding how and when to spend your energy. Successful entrepreneurs do enjoy a better work/life balance. While not everyone likes to exercise, entrepreneurship also isn’t for everyone.
If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, a franchise can be a great option. It reduces risk, offers guidance while you build your business, and relies on an established, proven business model. Even better, the financial freedom that comes from franchise ownership feels even better than exercise so ask yourself these 15 questions. They should help you better understand whether you’re financially and mentally prepared to own a franchise business.
1. Are You A Visionary?
Creating a successful business involves more than performing day-to-day tasks. You must also be able to see where you want to be in a week, month, and year down the road.
Ultimately, you want financial freedom so you need to be a person who can recognize and seize opportunities, continually innovate, and constantly adapt.
2. Are You Driven To Succeed?
If you choose to operate a franchise, you need motivation and the willingness to put in the time and effort necessary to make your new business grow. You won’t follow orders from a boss, because you’re the one giving them through the good and bad times.
It also means you can’t ignore paperwork and finances and you’ll need solid organizational skills for success. You will have days where you might feel like giving up, but entrepreneurs don’t. They’re driven by an internal desire to succeed, even in the face of adversity.
3. Do You Thrive On Challenge?
When you work for yourself, you set the goals and if you want to succeed you can’t sit back and hope things will happen. Every day you’ll face new challenges so ask yourself whether you’re a person that can face them constantly and look forward to even more.
Some people prefer the predictability of regular work and new challenges make them feel insecure and fearful. Entrepreneurs blaze through them, revel in their successes, and learn from their failures.
4. Are You Willing To Wear Many Hats?
Successful entrepreneurs perform many business functions themselves, so they must be willing to learn. While the franchisor does provide a system, you’ll still need to learn business basics for day-to-day operations such as budgeting, bookkeeping, marketing, IT, sales, and more.
It doesn’t matter which business type you choose – you need to know how to sell yourself, your products, and your services. If you decide on a franchise, they provide you with a business blueprint, but you still need to find your customers and sell them what you offer.
Even if selling doesn’t come naturally to you, you can learn. Nonetheless, you can’t expect to create financial freedom by sitting back waiting for people to come to you. Some business models cater more to business instead of directly to consumers, but you still need to actively and continually generate sales and grow your business.
As the franchise owner, you also have full financial responsibility for your business operations. This includes investing your initial capital and budgeting for ongoing expenses.
Even if crunching numbers isn’t something you enjoy, you definitely need to manage your money and especially during startup when money management is so crucial.
5. Are You Willing To Work Hard?
We all hear the inspiring stories of famous entrepreneurs. They started out with nothing and now enjoy incredible success. However, the one element many of these stories ignore is the years of hard work and dedication they put into their businesses before they achieved their dreams.
Achieving financial freedom through entrepreneurship does take hard work. You need to work as long as it takes to get the work done. Even if you’d rather be at home, you may need to complete orders, catch up on paperwork, organize marketing efforts, or become familiar with a new trend, product, or service. If you’re a person who finds great satisfaction in seeing the results of your work, entrepreneurship could be for you.
6. Are You Ready For A Long-Term Commitment?
Famous entrepreneurs will tell you long-term commitment is a vital component of success. If you’re expecting your business to magically generate income quickly, entrepreneurship probably isn’t for you.
You need to commit to running your business for at least several years, but even more if you want to create a lasting legacy. Financial freedom is the result of measured steps and forward thinking.
7. Can You Handle Failure?
No wants to fail, but it’s impossible to avoid when you run a business. You might lose a great customer, fail to collect money, pay too much for goods or services, or miss your sales targets.
However, the difference between a successful entrepreneur and a failure is whether you learn from your mistakes and move on, or not. Not everyone rebounds quickly, but it’s an essential quality when you run a business. You don’t have time to wallow in self-pity.
8. Can You Handle Isolation?
If you leave your existing job and start a franchise you’ll lose the daily contact with co-workers, and that’s not always easy. Initially, you won’t share your workplace with others and some people thrive on this stimulation.
Additionally, you won’t have anyone readily available to provide you with feedback. As a result, you’ll need people you can rely on for their candor and wisdom such as peers or business mentors.
9. Do You Communicate Well With Others?
When you run your own business good people skills are essential. You’ll need to communicate with your franchisor, suppliers, customers, peers, and employees.
Ask yourself whether you have or are willing to learn the communicative and interpersonal skills you need to deliver the best possible service and motivate others.
10. What Is Your Risk Tolerance?
Starting a business from scratch does allow you do things your own way, but it also involves significant risk. Alternatively, franchising limits many of your risks since it relies on a tested system, products, and services. Plus the franchisor provides training and guidance as you build your business.
Ask yourself whether you’re willing to risk all for a new venture or if limited risk exposure appeals to you more. Obviously you need to thoroughly investigate all potential businesses, but investigating a franchise opportunity is usually much simpler. A good franchisor willingly reveals financials, discusses market opportunities, and answers your specific questions.
11. Do You Need Work Flexibility?
Many people working in regular jobs want to start their own business since they need more flexibility in their lives. If you’re starting a business from scratch, that can be difficult to achieve.
However, many franchise businesses start as a home-based business so you can put in the needed hours and still take your kids to the dentist or step out to watch their concert or soccer match. You may need to work later, but you’ll still be there for them when they need you.
12. Do You Have Your Partner’s Support?
If you’re considering investing in a franchise, it is very important your partner’s onboard. Initially, running your own business can demand plenty of time, energy, and money which may impact family and social activities.
Discuss the idea with your partner and ensure you’re in complete agreement. They’re the ones that will pick up the slack while you’re building your business. Also consider whether your children are ready to handle change.
Friends can also offer their candid opinions about your emotional, mental, and physical suitability for entrepreneurship. They can point out your strengths and weaknesses, but it’s up to you to decide whether you’re willing to do what it takes to overcome your shortcomings.
13. Do You Have The Financial Resources?
Buying a franchise includes an initial investment, but you’ll also need sufficient resources to pay your bills while you build your business. Prepare a balance sheet of assets, liabilities, cash, and a detailed budget of expenses.
Plan for a year of savings so you have ample time before it is crucial you generate substantial revenue. If your partner will continue working while you build your business this will definitely lighten the load. However, you should also source possible sources for additional funding such as a bank loan, family members, or friends.
Don’t invest in a business unless you have ample resources. You’ll always have expenses you didn’t expect and you don’t need additional stress during a time of significant change.
14. Can You Cope With Income Fluctuations?
When you start a business, you hope to gradually increase your sales and increase your income. However, most new businesses usually have lean months and months when you do well. This income fluctuation can lead some business owners to overspend when the money comes in, instead of budgeting for less profitable times.
If you have a tough time restraining your spending or you can’t imagine months where you earn little, entrepreneurship might not suit you. However, if you’re a person who’s persistent and can manage the initial income inconsistency, it’s well-worth it.
You’ll enjoy unlimited growth opportunities and the potential for much more income than you could ever earn working for someone else.
15. Are You Willing To Follow An Established Business Model?
If you want to start your own business, you may want to run every aspect of it your own way. However, this also means you need to create the products and services and that takes plenty of time and money. Plus, even if you do extensive research you don’t know whether they’ll work in the actual market.
Alternatively, when you buy a franchise, you work within the franchisor’s business model. They have a brand and a predetermined concept and a proven business model.
They’ve already developed the products and services used by other franchisees. This significantly reduces risk since you can see how they actually perform, ask vital questions, and learn from their experiences.
The franchisor develops the policies and procedures, so you must be comfortable with following someone else’s lead. Fortunately, this doesn’t mean your franchisor ignores what you have a say.
A good franchisor listens to the concerns of the franchisees to improve overall success. After all, when you succeed the franchise succeeds too. Nonetheless, the franchisor decides what is best for the entire network’s success, not the individual owner.
Obviously, it’s important you align yourself with the best franchise network for business success. The franchisor should offer quality products and services, a great reputation with industry-recognized awards, extensive training, access to other franchisees, and a user-friendly reporting system.
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If you think you’ve got what it takes to become an entrepreneur, Postcard Portables has franchise opportunities throughout Canada. The merits of entrepreneurship with Postcard Portables include operating a home- based business.
Our highly-respected brand and franchise network offers unlimited growth potential for a low investment amount. Ask yourself: Are you ready to make a mark in your community and have the work/life balance you deserve? If so, then it’s time to sign. Contact us to learn more.