For people who have an entrepreneurial bent but aren’t quite willing to start a new business of their own, owning a franchise can be a good solution. Franchises come in many shapes and colors, and every month Entrepreneur magazine highlights several of the different ones that are available.
But what makes for a good franchisee? The so-called “Franchise King,” Joel Libava, says it’s really important for people to look inward and figure out if they’re really right for franchising. His book, Become a Franchise Owner!, focuses on assessing your skill set and even has a self-evaluation quiz to identify whether being a franchisee is a good option. Studying what top 20% franchise owners do will also give you an idea of what it takes to be successful, suggests, Marc Camras, Ph.D., co-author of The Secrets of Franchise Success and the founder of the Franchise CEO Mindset course series. His research has found common habits and traits that successful franchise owners have—you might recognize some in yourself, or identify what qualities you will need to cultivate.
Another tool which can give great insight is the Entrepreneurial Mindset Profile® (EMP), An online assessment instrument, the EMP measures 14 scales critical to entrepreneurial success, including Independence, Risk Acceptance, Future Focus, Passion, and Idea Generation among others. The instrument comes with a personalized feedback report and a thorough Development Guide to help you capitalize on your strengths and improve in areas that are less developed.
Although there is no perfect “Franchisee Profile,” let’s look at one particular combination of scores that might prove to be a good fit with being a franchisee: First, scoring high on Passion and Optimism, as well as other scales on the instrument which are conducive to managing a business such as Persistence, Execution, Action Orientation, and Interpersonal Sensitivity, makes sense given that there has to be an interest in running a successful business. Scoring Lower on Independence, Preference for Limited Structure, and Nonconformity might be more advantageous, and here’s why.
Since being a good franchisee requires being able to work within an established system, you better understand that following existing policies and procedures comes with the territory. And this is the very thing that makes it attractive to many people because they know they don’t have to re-invent the wheel or start a business from scratch. On the contrary, they can benefit from the path forged by others and perhaps avoid some of the earlier mistakes the original franchisor/owner made in the early years. In other words, being “Ms. Independent” isn’t going to fly within a pre-determined formula.
Along those same lines, if you actually enjoy challenging the status quo or really don’t like playing by the rules, (i.e. being a nonconformist), maybe being a franchisee will be too confining for you. Likewise, people who score high on Preference for Limited Structure enjoy working on tasks without clear parameters; they typically don’t want to be hemmed in by step-by-step procedures that are common with franchises. Again, lower scores on these two scales (Nonconformity and Preference for Limited Structure) might make for a better fit.
One thing to keep in mind, though, is as useful as all the EMP feedback can be, so much of it depends on the context of your particular situation. That is, how do your scores play out in comparison to your goals or the demands of your current position? What is most important to you at this particular moment in your career? How can you leverage your strengths as well as work on your development areas? All of these questions have bearing on how you interpret your scores and what you do with the information in the feedback report.
For more information on the Entrepreneurial Mindset Profile (EMP), visit www.emindsetprofile.com.
