It is often said that franchising is the schizophrenic blend of conformity and individuality where the ‘best bits’ of big and small businesses come together as part of the marriage of two parties (franchisor and franchisee) with differing skill sets but a common purpose.
Franchise Owners invariably come from a wide range of backgrounds and experience and running a franchise is very conducive to a variety of transferrable skills.
Moreover it is generally not the inherent skills of the prospective franchisee that’s important but rather the attitude, ambition, people skills and organisational ability that matters more.
Franchisors will usually look for people with a high work ethic, who are driven to succeed, are good communicators and willing (even keen) to follow a proven business system.
Thereafter, they will look for additional skills and/or experience that might be pertinent to the business/industry – be that technical, IT, sales, finance, marketing or other.
However, if a prospective franchisee doesn’t have the right ‘ethos’ then frankly no matter how good the skill set they will almost certainly be unsuitable as a franchisee.
In my time as a franchisor (20 years +) I have recruited from really the widest cross section of backgrounds from a cattle rancher to airline steward; city gents to a greengrocer; public service to driving instructor. They have all done very well – not because of their skills but because of their frame of mind, their work ethic, their drive to succeed and most importantly their willingness to follow a proven business system and to work with the franchisor.
So, I put the question back to you.
Are you right for franchising?