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The moment you pull the trigger on a franchise, your whole life changes. The act of writing a check for the franchise fee and signing your franchise agreement sets a lot of things in motion.
Some of these things will start immediately—and I’ll get into some of them in a moment.
But some of the things that happen when you become a franchisee happen later. Much later. And they can be beautiful.
When You Become a Franchisee This Happens...
Once you officially become a franchisee, the team at headquarters gets into gear to get your business up and running. Some of the things they typically do includes:
- Providing access to their technology
- Setting up your formal training schedule
- Starting the process to help you secure your location
- Getting you ready to hire employees
- Coordinating your Grand Opening
And more.
...Then This Happens
In a matter of months, you’re in business.
Your shiny, new franchise business is up and running.
You did it! You’re a small business owner!
Now the work begins.
The Work Is Hard
I’m 100% sure no one told you owning a business was going to be easy.
The fact is you’re putting in extremely long hours. So what? Didn’t you put in long hours when you worked for someone else?
Eventually, as you get into a groove, you’ll be able to relinquish some of your duties to your best employees. Once you’ve done that, you’ll be able to spend time growing your business.
Business Development
It’s an incredible feeling to be out and about in your local community, networking and talking about your business.
That’s because you’re doing it as an owner, not as an employee.
In essence, when you call on local businesses to share information on your business, you’re doing so as one small business owner to another. The people you call on are going to be much more receptive to seeing and talking to you, as opposed to seeing a representative of the business.
And it’s in these interactions that the magic starts to happen.
Relationships
While it’s true that you would love to sell something to every single person you meet, it doesn’t mean you will.
Sometimes, instead of making a sale, you’ll create a relationship. A relationship that may turn out to be beautiful.
What follows are two examples of some of the beautiful relationships you could end up creating.
1. Marketing relationships
Wouldn’t it be great if you could tap into someone else’s customer/client database? Well you can.
Let’s say you own an automotive franchise, and in your business development efforts, you met the owner of a printing franchise. Hal, the printing shop owner, was very enthusiastic about your business, and he seems like a good guy.
After getting to know him, you decide to meet with him to propose a joint-marketing effort focused on email marketing. Basically, you agree to mention his business in your newsletter, and he agrees to do the same for you.
One month later, your newsletters go out, and both of you end up getting a decent amount of new business. It’s a win-win, and you and Hal decide to try more things together. It’s the beginning of a beautiful relationship.
2. Repeat-customer relationships
Let’s say you brought a new pizza franchise to town, and you’re open for business.
You end up making quite a splash, and the local community definitely knows about the 'new pizza place in town.'
Your franchisor tells you that it’s the right time to start your business development efforts, so you do.
You hit all the local businesses that have 15 employees or more and offer to bring them a freshly-cooked pizza-on the house. Who doesn’t like free food? They like what they tasted and start buying from you.
Six months later, you’ve determined that you’ve done several thousand dollars’ worth of business from your efforts. But it gets better.
That’s because over 50% of those customers have become regular customers, and because of that, you now have relationships with them.
Beautiful, revenue-building relationships.
Relationships you wouldn’t have had without your business development efforts.
The bottom line: when you become the owner of a franchise, get out of your store as soon as possible, so you can develop new business and new relationships.
Because a thriving franchise business is a beautiful thing.
The Franchise King®, Joel Libava, is a top franchise expert. He’s written over 2,000 different articles on franchise ownership and personally consults with people who are looking to buy a profitable franchise. Go here to find out how The Franchise King® can help you become your own boss.