If you are considering buying a franchise and have a combative personality, you might want to reconsider. You see, when you buy a franchise you will need to follow the franchisor’s guidelines and business model perfectly. Any deviation could affect the franchisor’s brand name and the consistency they wish to convey to the consumer. Also, you must realize that the franchisor’s business model has been refined over the years, and now that they have thousands of franchisees, it is nearly perfect.
Thus, if you don’t like it, complain about it, or try to change it most likely you will catch the ire of the franchisor’s staff, regional directors, or regional managers. If you can’t handle yourself emotionally, and become too combative you will be considered a rogue franchisee. Most likely, at that point they will want to get you out of the system, terminate your franchise, or get you to sell it to another individual who will actually follow the system. When they do, it will not be out of spite or vindictiveness, rather a business decision to prevent their brand name from going astray.
As a franchisor, I’ve met a number of very hard to deal with franchisees. Yes, they were very competitive in the marketplace and that did help our franchise business, but they were also combative and competitive with us in the direction we were moving the company. For instance, they wanted to take our perfect McDonalds’ business model, and upgrade it to a steakhouse. The reality is a McDonalds is not a steakhouse, it’s not intended to be, and their business model serves a specific niche.
If someone walked into McDonalds, and saw the menu had been changed in that particular McDonalds, and all the prices were very expensive and they only served steaks, you can imagine how baffled they might be. Therefore, if you are thinking about buying a franchise you need to be mentally tough enough, and committed enough to stay within those Franchise guidelines. If not, and good many entrepreneurial spirits aren’t, then you should not buy a franchise. In this case, you should start your own business, and run it anyway you want. Indeed, I hope you please consider this.
Tags: business decision, buying a franchise, franchi, franchise business, franchisee, franchisees, franchisor, mcdonalds, regional directors, regional managers