Franchise Article

Being in business for yourself is an incredible opportunity. It is a chance to be your own boss, to spend more time doing the things you love, to increase your income and earning potential, and to escape from the corporate “rat race” where you have to do whatever someone tells you to do. There are a few common pitfalls that first time business owners typically don’t see coming. These are the 7 common mistakes business owners make when starting a new business or franchise.

Your customers and clients want dependability and familiarity. While the offer of something new is exciting and motivating, many clients want something new in a familiar and comfortable way. Choose a logo, design, webpage, and branding that will encompass your entire business for the duration of your franchise, not something that will need to be updated and changed every time a new service or product is unveiled. Many franchise opportunities and businesses for sale have a logo or product that has built a reputation with your future customers, don’t feel like you need to redesign everything to make it personal. Let your product and the way you run your business be personal, let the logo and look be familiar and consistent.

#2. Stick to your marketing plan, follow your business model.

Setting goals, deadlines, key result areas, tasks, and target dates for revenues, products, size of your business, and many other things is critical to the success of your business. The mistake that many franchise owners and small business owners make is forgetting that they spent hours crafting and studying a business plan, and once the business is up and running they just “wing it.” There was a reason you started your business opportunity or franchise, you had a plan that was going to make your new business a success. Follow it. Chart it. Pull out that goals worksheet, that business model, that marketing plan and calendar those goals and dates in a place where you will see it and work toward it.

#3.  Overestimating revenues and sales profits.

Optimism is what fuels the small business market. You cannot be successful in business without belief that you will find business opportunities that will produce large profits and revenues. You also cannot be successful if you overestimate the profits that will be made from advertising and new products, or underestimating the time it can take to see a decent return on your investments. Many franchise owners find themselves in the position of having drastically overspent their start-up capital and running deep into debt before realizing any actual cash flow from their new business. With every franchise opportunity comes with the risk of failure and time is necessary to build up a strong customer base. Make sure that you are patient with the time you expect to see results and slow your spending on products and advertisements until your revenues begin to catch up with your costs.

#4.  Choosing the right business opportunity, not the first/easiest business opportunity

There are many franchises for sale. There are many opportunities to go into business for yourself. That does not mean that every opportunity is the right one for you. Before purchasing a franchise or small business it’s important to know that there is going to be a considerable amount of time, money, and passion invested into making your business a success. Especially if you are starting a small business to experience the joy and freedom that comes from doing what you want to do, make sure that the franchise you purchase will really allow you to do what you want to do. Just because a home service franchise that provides lawn care and landscaping offers the right financing, in the right area, for the right price, doesn’t mean that you will naturally be successful or satisfied running that business - especially if you have outdoor allergies! Passion and appreciation for a business is critical in making it a success. If the business you really want to run costs a little more or requires a relocation, it’s worth evaluating waiting until the time is right to run the business that will truly fit you as an owner.

#5. Limiting your technology to what you have the capacity to operate and understand.

It is a digital world, and especially with small business and franchises websites and email services are critical to running a successful and credible business. Some business owners, while having an extremely good business sense and management style, have a limited capacity for technological knowledge. There are many small business opportunities that provide web design, IT services, and a wide range of technological support to small businesses. By utilizing these services you can focus on the strengths you bring to your small business and at the same time provide the type of technological support and web content that your customers and clients expect of a serious business.

#6. Running your business in total isolation from other businesses.

While you may wish to escape the corporate world by starting your own business or franchise, trying to operate a business completely isolated from other business and networks is a good way to never get your business off the ground. The whole idea of businesses and cities is for individuals to provide a specialty product or good as a part of a larger whole. It’s important for any business to understand the importance of a good network of helpful and relevant business partners. If you provide a property services business that assists people in acquiring or selling property, having relationships with inspectors, home service and repair technicians, and financial institutions makes sense. Not only will you be able to provide a greater service to your customers by recommending trustworthy business partners, you will also receive free advertising and referrals from your network of businesses that have customers that desire your services. Good networking relationships with other business owners can be the difference in success and failure for the majority of new business start-ups and franchises.

#7.  Letting too many outside sources determine how to run your business.

While this seems a little contrary to the existence of this article, the simple fact is that, while information is abundant, ultimately it is up to you to run your business in the way that you are comfortable and capable to run it effectively. Often it is said that the three most important things in working in a successful business are character, competency, and chemistry. While competency can be increased by research, input, and various forms of advice, ultimately it comes down to the character of the business owner in sticking to their business model and working hard, combined with the chemistry to work well with employees and business contacts. Nothing ruins a business faster than indecisiveness by a leader. Get information, allow many people in your network of business owners that you trust to be consultants and provide information. At the end of the day, however, evaluate everything you read and listen to through the lens of your business style and experience. You are accountable for your businesses success and failure, not the authors of the books you read, not the people in your life who offer business tips and advice. Make sure that suggestions and information make sense to you and your business. There is no automatic formula for success; there are plans and tips that help, but no guarantees. Work hard at being innovative, by pioneering new ways of doing business you give yourself the best chance for success.