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One of the best parts of investing in a franchise is the opportunity to effectively be your own boss and work in the best way for you. Still, having that freedom to manage your location or locations comes with an inherent need to be goal-oriented. Without clearly defined goals, you’re likelier to get off course or coast without meeting your true potential.
As you’re considering which franchise to start, it’s a good idea to think through your goals and define success on your terms. Here are a few steps to help you get there.
Know Yourself First
Before setting goals for your franchise's success, it’s important to recognize your strengths and weaknesses as the franchise owner.
Start by looking at what you’re particularly good at doing. Are you a numbers cruncher? Then bookkeeping and operations will likely take more focus and energy because you’ll enjoy doing them more. Are you a people pleaser? You’ll probably spend more of your time out in the community instead of behind the scenes. Neither is right or wrong, but it’s important to recognize where you naturally use that strength to your advantage.
Likewise, knowing your weaknesses will also help you when establishing your goals. If you don’t do well with high-tech environments, you might want to choose a franchise that won’t expect you to use robust and overwhelming systems. Simple is better when it comes to tech tools, in this case. Your weaknesses will also help you know where to hire first so you can take those harder tasks off your to-do list, freeing up mental space to lean into what you know how to do well.
Form Specific Goals
With your strengths and weaknesses in mind, you can get specific about your franchise ownership goals. Here are a few questions to help you pinpoint those specifics.
What do you want to achieve with your franchise?
Whether you’re hoping to bring in a certain amount of money each month or to build more time and location freedom, it’s important to specify those personal and professional goals.
What does success look like?
Success looks different for each person. What might be a lot of money to one person is less money to another. While some people want a steady location and to build their community, others want to travel and explore. Defining what success looks like for you specifically will help you decide on which franchise to start while also visualizing the result of reaching your goals.
What stepping stones can you take to achieve success?
Franchise ownership is a journey, not a destination. As cliche as that might sound, you must recognize that you’ll follow a path toward success. It won’t be an overnight occurrence when you sign on the franchise agreement line.
To this end, defining milestones along your path to success will help you stay motivated and on track. It’ll keep you making that incremental progress toward a bigger-picture goal. Defining the small wins along the journey lets you determine how to reach the long-term franchising goal.
Make Your Action Plan
With your goals in place, it’s time to set up your action plans for how you’ll get there. One favorite approach is to start with the end in mind and work backward.
Consider where you plan to be with your franchise after the location has opened and you’ve started your business. Then, move back to where you are now, in the dreaming phase about what’s possible for your future.
In this approach, you’re more likely to jot down all the relevant steps and stay on track.
Franchise ownership is different for every person. Goals aligned with your personal preferences allow you to stay on track and increase your chances of success.
Kimberly Crossland is the founder of Roadpreneur and Cruisin' + Campfires, two companies designed to keep families together and living in freedom through travel and entrepreneurship. The goal of both businesses is to inspire meaningful change through the power of a strategic, thoughtful approach to life and business. In her free time, you can find her looking for a new adventure together with her two boys.