In an era of big mergers, most notably the recent link-up of H.J. Heinz Co. and Kraft Foods Group, the all-too-often consequence is mass layoffs.

First we hear about all the economies of scale and efficiencies to be generated, and then a fresh group of experienced, seasoned professionals are cut loose into the workforce. In the case of Kraft Heinz, the first announced round of layoffs amounted to 2,500, but the company has huge cost reductions still planned, which will likely mean even more layoffs.

While the company casually sails along, these good employees may find themselves left aimless and adrift.

For folks at mid-career, somewhere between the ages of 50 and retirement, anecdotal evidence abounds about how difficult it is to get a new job at a comparable level in corporate America, even at a time of increased awareness of age discrimination.

But these talented professionals are hardly without options.

One possibility is to consider putting your skills and experience to work for yourself. Even without any experience running your own show, there is one option that provides a ready-made system, as well as all the support you would need to help you get the hang of it all.

That is: A good franchise. The question is how to determine what constitutes a “good” franchise.

Five Steps to Figure Out if a Franchise is for You

Look and Listen

Your own senses can tell you a lot. Look around and start to notice all the different types of businesses that are, in fact, franchises. You’ll find a lot more than fast food. Plenty may actually be operated out of the owner’s home, from maid and cleaning services to business support services. Check out the International Franchise Association website — www.franchise.org — to get a glimpse of this growing sector of our economy that includes more than 7,000 franchises across 75 industries. Ask around and learn from friends and family, who may have experiences with franchises.

Consult a Franchise Coach

Absolutely free, these consultants offer an invaluable service because they already have an established track record with a set of franchises. In addition, their ongoing contacts provide them the opportunity to learn about problems within a specific franchise, so you can skip franchises that may be undergoing a difficult transition or having growing pains. They will also attempt to match a franchise to your own particular set of skills and interests and so save you time in the long run.

Talk to Some Franchise Companies

Pick up the phone and call franchise companies that interest you. Sure they’re trying to sell their franchise, but they will also answer specific questions about what the day-to-day life of the owner is like, how the franchise company supports franchisees, and how much it costs to set up a franchise with their company. They can also tell you what qualities they look for in franchisees, and you can get a feel for whether this franchise would work for you or not and if its cost falls within your budget.

Read the Franchise Disclosure Document

The Federal Trade Commission requires all franchisors to disclose particular aspects of their businesses to potential franchisees, and it must be written in standard English. This is essential reading for any franchise you are seriously considering. You can get a complete rundown of the costs, you will learn the history of the franchise and its executives, whether they or the company have been involved in litigation, and some will even provide earnings estimates, though this item is not required.

Interview Franchisees

As perhaps the most important step in the process, you can check all the information you’ve received so far with the folks with all the hands-on experience. Talk to as many franchisees as possible and ask them how they’re doing, how the franchisor’s support and system has worked and whether they would buy this franchise again. You can also ask them how the numbers add up. How much capital did they need to keep their business operating until they could start earning a profit? And how much can a person expect to earn from this franchise? Not all franchisees will answer this question, but many will.

While you may have heard a lot of things about franchising, the truth is there exists a huge variety of franchises, good and bad, each requiring different types of experience. The trick is to figure out what type of franchise might work for you and treat the process as you would any important investment in your life, with thorough preparation.

Ready to make your dream of becoming an entrepreneur come true?

Get your free evaluation today!

Contact Dan Citrenbaum to help you create the career you’ve always wanted. As a franchise coach, Dan brings years of experience helping people select and buy a franchise or existing business. You can reach Dan at [email protected] or at (484) 278-4589.

© Dan Citrenbaum 2022

Buying a franchise is a great way to reinvent your career, find new satisfaction and higher annual earnings.

When shopping for a franchise, too often people tend to sell themselves short. Instead of finding value in skills gained over the course of a career, they focus on the lack of direct experience in a particular business sector, say retail sales or temporary staffing.

But you don’t want to eliminate opportunities before you have even begun to investigate.

The key is to keep your mind open to possibilities you may never before have considered and inventory your skills to get a truly accurate read on your experience.

Think about all the different skills acquired over a lifetime, both on the job and off.

For example, a plant manager increasingly frustrated at work feared his skills managing a large manufacturing plant with a unionized work force would not easily transfer to franchise ownership. But as he began his research, he realized his experience motivating employees sometimes resistant to instructions, meeting deadlines and working on tight budgets would serve him well. He eventually opened five locations of a fitness franchise and has been enjoying his new profitable career for five years.

Likewise, managing a household develops expertise in a range of areas, including leadership training (PTA), party planning, catering, household systems management and scheduling. Many a successful franchisee started as a homemaker.

Remember, when it comes to franchises, the companies provide extensive training and support to help you transfer your skills to a new business. What you want to have are skills compatible with the new business that will enable you to soar.

We recommend you consult a franchise coach to help you winnow down your list of potential franchises, but first consider the following skills as you do a personal inventory.

Six Essential Skills for Business

Communications

Written a letter or contributed to a newsletter? Spoken to clients or subcontractors on a regular basis? Unless you’re sitting in a back room, doing the books or programming all day long, chances are you have learned a fair amount about how to communicate. But if you feel this isn’t your strong suit, this is an area you could delegate.

Sales/Marketing

Selling yourself is as important as selling a product or service so if you’ve ever had to talk your way onto a board or into a meeting, you know how to sell. If you don’t like dealing with the public, you may want to choose the type of business that practically sells itself with a good marketing campaign.

Management

Managing a classroom or a household is a lot like managing a company. All require knowing how to get the most out of people while keeping them happy and satisfied in their jobs. Franchises tend to offer good employee training.

Organization, Controls

While running a business requires good organization skills, a franchise company’s support usually will help you learn what you need to know. If, on the other hand, things are often spinning out of control for you, you may want to think again before going into business for yourself.

Networking

If your list of contacts is huge and you’re always collecting friends, you likely excel at building relationships and a clientele. While attracting customers is key, so is keeping them, which is best accomplished by delivering the goods.

Public Speaking/Presentation Skills

Lots of careers require public speaking, from sales to teaching. If you think it’s a snap to run a meeting or can stand up in front of a lot of people to welcome them to a party or event, you’re good to go. A whiz at Powerpoint? Even better.

Don’t worry if you haven’t checked each one, the main skill you need is the willingness to work hard over an extended period of time and do your homework. Of course, you also need perseverance and a little hard-headedness to keep you going. You do yourself credit when you recognize your strengths, as well as your weaknesses. So follow your passion because you’re in it for the long game.

This guest post is by Dan Citrenbaum, a Franchise Coach and Entrepreneurial Consultant who helps people achieve their dreams as small business owners.  He offers free evaluations to find out what option might be the best for you.  Find Dan at www.EnterpreneurOption.com.

© Dan Citrenbaum 2022

So, you want to start a business, but feel like you’re running into a brick wall at every turn. Don’t despair, a franchise operation may be just the ticket to help you fill a local market niche. While you pay a franchisor a start-up fee — which usually ranges from $35,000 to $60,000 — you get training, proven systems for profitability, expert marketing, plus ongoing support to help you overcome bumps in the road along the way. Most entrepreneurs who buy a franchise have no experience in that industry. But thanks to the support and training they receive from the franchisor, they can build successful businesses that outperform even established independent competitors.

Advantages Of A Franchise

In our current economic environment, little mom and pops often find it tough to compete, and a proven system can offer great benefits. You can start your own business with a franchise and still have lots of the same perks as an independent business owner — plus many advantages they don’t have.

A Proven System

A franchise company has used years of experience to figure out what works and what doesn’t. They know how many employees you need and what type of advertising works best. And a franchise company wants you to succeed — to bolster their own bottom line.

Support And Training

Most franchise companies have employees whose sole task is to support their franchisees in such areas as IT, sales, advertising, accounting and human resources. Independent businesses have to hire individual experts for support, and those costs can add up.

A Strong Record Of Success

A study on profitability by the U.S. Small Business Administration found that the average franchise had five times the first-year revenue as the average independent business. At our firm, new franchisees have a 94% success rate, but the key to success is research, research, research, figuring out which franchise is right for you and which franchises offer the best chance of success.

A Well-Documented Track Record

Since so many others will have walked the path on which you’re setting forth, you have all the information you need to help you succeed. Much of it is provided in the Franchise Disclosure Document. And unlike independent businesses, which have to make educated guesses, you have a network of other franchisees to help guide the way.

Ready to make your dream of becoming an entrepreneur come true? Get your free evaluation today! Contact Dan Citrenbaum to help you create the career you’ve always wanted. As a business coach, Dan brings years of experience helping people select and buy a franchise or existing business. You can reach Dan at [email protected] or at (484) 278-4589. 

If you’re like most Americans, your work time horizon is much longer than it used to be. As a result, there’s less reason than ever to stick it out with a go-nowhere job or to sink into despair after being downsized out of a job as many were during the Great Recession.

Surveys show that most of us don’t have enough retirement savings, and we can’t really retire the way our parents or grandparents did because we’re living longer and require more money to make it. Many don’t plan to ever retire.

More than half of Baby Boomers expect to work at least to the age of 66 or older, and two-thirds expect to work for pay in retirement, according to a recent Gannett Poll for the Wall Street Journal.

Like many, Ed Flanagan, of Huntington Valley, Penn., who started a new business with a franchise in his 50s, said he intends to work “until I die,” though in Ed’s case it is because he enjoys his work, not because of financial need.

Ed had risen to Chief Financial Officer for a real estate developer, but that industry started collapsing with the market crash in 2008. Ed needed to start looking for new opportunities. He hoped to parlay his financial experience into a new career that he could control.

After consulting a franchise coach, he decided that purchasing a franchise had great upsides, from a ready-to-go system already in place to a network of support that would help him get through the start-up phase.

A couple of weeks later, he went to a Franchise Discovery Day at Expense Reduction Analysts of Addison, Texas, and took the leap.

Five years later, he couldn’t be happier with his new business, in which he helps his clients find cost savings, which translate into a fatter bottom line for their businesses. Using a network of analysts, his fellow franchisees, Flanagan is able to obtain an average savings of 20 percent for his client.

In his new career, he’s achieved a higher income with far more freedom to allow him the lifestyle he desires, but, he acknowledges, it wasn’t exactly an easy transition.

Of course, at the time of his purchase, the U.S. economy was still struggling to recover from a crippling recession, and many business owners were loath to think outside of the box, even for a service that Flanagan realized was a no-brainer that could make the difference between profit and loss for many businesses.

“When you’re your own boss, it’s all on you. You have to get up in the morning and do the work. You’ve got to keep plugging away,” he notes. “Nobody manages you, it’s up to you how productive you will be, particularly at the beginning.”

While acknowledging the difficulties he faced, noting that in his mind it “took too long” to achieve profitability, his business is now rolling along quite well, growing by 20 percent each year.

“The best thing is getting referrals,” he said. But that takes time, through making contacts and establishing networks and business relationships. So that after five years, 70 percent of his clients result from referrals.

Best advice Flanagan’s got for those about to embark on a new career as owners of your own business:

“You’ve got to have thick skin… Expect to have at least a year of living expenses set aside at the start. You might not need that much, but you sure don’t want to get caught short. If you’re willing to work hard, you can really have a nice lifestyle and make good money. I never had a job before where I could look out the window and tell myself ‘It’s a beautiful day. I’m going to take the afternoon off to play golf.’”

Of course, not all business types travel the same trajectory, so consult a good franchise coach, and do your research so you are prepared to succeed for the long haul and achieve the career and lifestyle of your dreams.

Ready to make your dream of becoming an entrepreneur come true?

Get your free evaluation today!

Contact Dan Citrenbaum to help you create the career you’ve always wanted. As a franchise coach, Dan brings years of experience helping people select and buy a franchise or existing business. You can reach Dan at [email protected] or at (484) 278-4589.

© Dan Citrenbaum 2022

The stories are legion about people who’ve breathed new life into their careers with a franchise or even a slew of franchises. But there are some pretty notable misses in the franchise business, as well. Just think Quizno’s or Curves, two franchise systems that, for different reasons, have faltered: Quizno’s, the once promising sandwich shop, is now in bankruptcy; and Curves, fitness centers for women of a certain size, is a shadow of its former self. While it’s true that nothing in life is guaranteed, you can do quite a bit to minimize your risk by thoroughly checking into a franchisor’s track record. The federal government requires all franchisors to disclose much useful information in its Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD), and then, of course, the franchisees can tell you firsthand about their experiences with the company. Critical to your background research is your conversation with the franchisor. Most franchisors will have a standard protocol for potential new franchisees that include in-person and telephone meetings with selected executives as well as lots of reading materials to introduce you to the franchisor’s system. You need to use this opportunity to zero in on the issues that are critical to helping a new franchisee succeed.

9 Key Questions To Ask Franchisors

Here are nine key questions to ask franchisors:

1. How much will it cost to purchase the franchise?

These numbers will be broken down and listed in the FDD, but you want to hear what the franchisor has to say on the subject. If they try to sugarcoat the costs in any way that doesn’t match your background research, alarm bells should sound in your brain. You always want the facts delivered to you straight. After all, one of the worst positions you can find yourself in is to have run out of capital before your business becomes profitable.

2. What is the background of the business and company executives?

While this information, including previous litigation, will be listed in Items 1-3 of the FDD, you want to get a sense of who these people are. Follow your gut. If you feel someone isn’t being genuine or truthful with you, stay away.

3. How old and established is the franchise?

Ask executives about how the company has evolved and, ideally, improved over the years. If it’s a fairly new franchise, what are the company’s plans for growth, and how will they help their franchisees to succeed?

4. What is the success rate of franchisees?

They may give you a rosy window into franchisee success, but you can ask good questions if you’ve first read about any claims the company may have made in the FDD. You should also be more knowledgeable if you’ve already interviewed franchisees for whom you can find contact information in the FDD.

5. What type of training program does the franchisor offer?

How much ongoing support will you get? Are particular executives assigned to your region? Will you always be able to get someone on the phone for a consultation?

6. What exactly is involved with the system?

You need to determine if this this a system you are capable of following. Also is the system sufficient to help you achieve success. Sometimes, newer franchises may still be working out the kinks.

7. If things go badly for a new franchisee, what does the franchisor do to help?

Is there a triage system of some kind? Good franchisors should have adequate support to help you during the start-up phase, when you may hit a few stumbling blocks.

8. How competitive is the market?

It might seem like some business sectors are flooded with competitors. Maybe that means the field is too crowded. That might, however, be a sign of strong, growing demand. You will want to know how the franchisor feels about local competition, and what plans they have for helping you to succeed in a competitive market.

9. What activities does the owner spend their time on?

Just because McDonalds sells hamburgers does not mean that the owner spends their days flipping burgers. When you first consider a franchise, the role of the owner might also be surprising. You will want to learn what tasks take the owner’s time. Then, you can assess if you have the right skills and interest to excel in those areas At the end of the research, after you have talked to several franchisors and narrowed down your list to one, you will visit the franchisor on a Franchise Discovery Day. Check out whether the infrastructure is actually in place. Is there a training center? Are the executives interested in you? Can you establish a good rapport with them? And only then will you be ready to proceed. Of course, before you sign on any dotted line, you will want advice from objective experts, such as a good franchise attorney. 

This post was originally published at an earlier date.

This post was originally published at an earlier date.

Buying a franchise is one of the quickest, safest ways to start your own business, but a franchise is not for everyone, particularly if you’re the type of person who likes to blaze your own trail.

For starters, to be successful with a franchise — that is to maximize your potential earnings — you must be prepared to follow the franchisor’s system, the time-tested method the company has for virtually every aspect of its operations, including staffing protocols, an advertising campaign and store build-out plans.

After working with dozens of franchisees over the years, I still see new franchisees decide they can cut corners, for example, by declining to hire enough people to cover the day-to-day responsibilities of meeting the needs of customers.

The owner may decide to save money by doing some of the work himself, for example, cleaning houses or caring for seniors. As a result the owner has less time to build the business, creating a steady and growing clientele to generate earnings. While that owner may save some upfront costs, he or she loses long-term earnings potential.

So how do you know if you are a good candidate for a franchise? Answer eight easy questions:

1. Are you prepared to thoroughly research the business?

Selecting a franchise may be your first most important step, and the process requires solid research, from reading background materials to putting shoe leather to pavement and visiting franchisees.

2. Are you prepared to work hard?

Just because the business comes with a system doesn’t mean you won’t have a learning curve. Of course, once you have good employees in place and operations running smoothly, many franchise operations will allow you to take an afternoon for golf or to attend a child’s track meet. Many franchisees set a realistic goal to work 30 to 35 hours per week within three to five years of starting their business.

3. Can you call for assistance when needed?

A good franchisor wants to help you through the start-up phase, so to take full advantage of what you’re paying for, you need to be willing to ask for guidance. A good franchisor will likely offer many good suggestions, possibly a long to-do list that will require time to implement.

4. Do you have enough capital to set up the business to operate as designed?

Before you buy the franchise, your research should have told you how long it will take to operate in the black, and the Franchise Disclosure Document will tell you your upfront expenses. Getting to profitability varies by location and franchisee. You will need to be work hard and pay operating expenses for some time before earnings begin.

5. Can you accept paying the franchisor royalties and other specified fees?

These fees are the price you pay for a proven operating system, built-in research and development, a fully vetted list of suppliers, as well as an advertising campaign and ongoing support and training.

6. Will you accept structure in your business?

If you would rather create your own approach to a unique business that reflects your particular vision for a product line or service, you don’t want a franchise.

7. Can you accept advice from authority?

When you buy into a franchise system, you are part of a team, and the franchisor needs each of its franchisees to present a consistent image to the buying public. No reinventing the system.

8. And, most importantly, can you trust the system to work?

If the answer is no, then don’t buy the franchise.

Ideally, you will answer yes to each of these questions. If you answered no to more than two, then you might want to consider an independent business. I also suggest you consult a franchise coach, who is in the business to help you make the best decision to ensure success.

After all, what you want most is to have a business you enjoy in which you can excel and which will also earn a tidy profit.

Ready to make your dream of becoming an entrepreneur come true?

Get your free evaluation today!

*This post was written by Career Confidential Expert Dan Citrenbaum of The Entrepreneur Option. Contact Dan Citrenbaum to help you create the career you’ve always wanted. As a franchise coach, Dan brings years of experience helping people select and buy a franchise or existing business. You can reach Dan at [email protected] or at (48)278-4589.