Are you unhappy at work? Are you sick of waiting in traffic jams in peak hour? Do you want a better work and life balance? Do you want to take control of your daily life? Do you want to become your own boss? Then why donÕt you quit your job and buy a franchise?
Award winning multi-unit franchisee at Hairhouse Warehouse, Tony Zoobi shares his 10 best reasons for pursuing the dream of owning a successful business.
1. Work and life balance
If you wish to achieve work and life balance then owning a franchise is just the thing for you. When I used to work in a corporate environment I had to plan my life around work. Now I own a franchise, it allows me the opportunity to plan my business around my life. No more Monday morning traffic jams and no more leaving the office at 9pm to impress the boss. I have taken control of my own life.
2. Turnkey business
Even budding entrepreneurs who are able to run successful businesses choose to buy franchises: these entrepreneurs donÕt want to go through the details to get their business up and running. When I bought my first Hairhouse Warehouse store eight years ago the franchisor eliminated all the details and hard work: site location, negotiating a lease, shopfit management, operations manuals and marketing were all taken care of.
3. Track record of success
When you buy a franchise, you are buying an established concept that has proven to be successful in other locations. The ideas and processes of running the business have already been tried and tested. The franchisor can also prove this by showing you successful results of existing franchises.
4. Proven system
When you buy a franchise you are buying systems. If there arenÕt any systems, then run. The risk of failure is much lower with a franchise than starting a brand new business because when you buy a franchise you buy a system that works. All franchises have an established system in place that you must follow — why recreate the wheel? The systems are designed to reduce the errors that a common business owner might make, and instead help them focus on growing the sales.
IÕm a marketing professional who owns eight hair and beauty franchises. This would not have been possible if there werenÕt systems in place for me to follow. The systems have worked for hundreds of other franchisees, and it works for me too.
5. Brand awareness
Many well-known franchises have national brand-name recognition. Buying a franchise is like buying a business with built-in customers whereas starting up a new business will require you to spend time and money to establish a new brand. Customers are usually more comfortable purchasing items from companies they already know and trust — they see your logo, they know your brand, they trust your brand, they buy your products or services.
6. Easier to obtain financing
One of the major reasons why Hairhouse Warehouse and other national franchise brands are so popular is because it is easy to obtain unsecured financing from the major banks. The banks are very comfortable financing the purchase of a franchise because they already have a proven track record. Successful franchise chains are usually seen to be lower risk than independent businesses.
7. Training and ongoing support
A good franchise company has training programs designed to teach you the most successful ways to run the business. They should also have reference materials (and operations manuals) to assist you in dealing with whatever comes up while youÕre running your business.
Most franchise companies offer a training program held at their corporate offices or at a franchise location. The franchisor will train you to run your franchise exactly the same way their other franchise locations are run. This will ensure that you are running your business efficiently and will help to eliminate common mistakes any new business owner makes.
Once you are up and running you will always have the support of the franchisor, and fellow franchisees and the back-up of knowing you are part of a national chain. You will always be able to pick up the phone and ask questions to the franchisor or even to other franchisees (who I believe are the best resources in the business).
YouÕre not alone when youÕre building and running your business, and you can always call on experienced people when you need some inspiration, or to share new ideas for growing the business.
8. Marketing
Most small business owners fail because they donÕt understand how to best market their business, or simply do not have the finances to advertise.
When you buy a franchise the marketing strategy is done for you. Hairhouse Warehouse, for example, executes all the national marketing in various media such as TV, radio, print, catalogues, internet and in-store — all are proven tools and strategies for attracting and retaining customers. The marketing team will also assist the franchisee with local area marketing to further localise the marketing.
9. Exclusive territory
When you buy a franchise, you get exclusive rights for the territory, and no other franchises can be sold in the same area. Franchisors will only allow a certain amount of franchises to be open within a certain geographical region.
10. Multiple locations
Many entrepreneurs get into franchising with aspirations of owning more than one store. Most franchise systems will offer you more opportunities to grow within the system — it is to their benefit to grow an existing franchise rather than finding a new one. Once you work out how to make the first store work, the next step is to become a multi-unit franchisee.
I was able to significantly increase my income and free up my time by opening eight stores. The focus went from working in the business, to working on growing the business. I have become a sort of CEO — working on the numbers, and managing an area manager — and the best part of it all, being able to command the ship from a home office.