Should you buy a franchise? | Kuwait Times

?Can you help me buy a franchise?? I hear that question several times a month from people in Kuwait, and while I?m willing to help, most people do not understand what?s involved in owning a franchise. People operate franchises in more than 100 countries, and it?s extremely popular in Kuwait, but franchising doesn?t work for everyone, and it might not work for you. Before I offered to help you, I?d want to know about your entrepreneurial drive.

Imagine for a moment a horizontal line that measures entrepreneurial drive. At the far left of the line is the number 1 (indicating no to little entrepreneurial drive); at the far right is the number 10 (indicating high entrepreneurial drive). Where are you on that scale? Go ahead, identify your entrepreneurial drive. If you selected a number below 5, your entrepreneurial drive may be too low to own a business, franchised or not. Keep your job, or get one! If you selected a number higher than 8, your entrepreneurial drive may be too high.

Create a business and franchise it rather than buy someone else?s concept. If you selected a mid-scale number, 5 to 8, you may be the perfect franchisee candidate. Mid-range entrepreneurial drive provides just enough initiative without providing too much creativity.

But since there?s no scientific proof to this exercise, you still have a lot of homework to do.

Continue by answering these questions:

1. If you bake a cake, are you more likely to follow a recipe, including measuring the ingredients, or will you guess at both the ingredients and the measurements?

2. Would you rather lead or follow?

3. Are you trainable? To succeed as a franchisee, your answers should have been: recipe, follow, yes.

Here?s why: Franchising relies on systems (or recipes) to operate outlets successfully. More than anything, franchising is a series of systems for marketing, selling, and distributing products and services. Without specific systems, the business fails. Franchisors expect franchisees to implement their systems without question. That?s why franchisees must be good followers! Systems are the treasured recipes of franchising.

Franchisees also must learn the franchisor?s systems, so they must be trainable. Franchise companies train new franchisees for several days to several weeks initially. Success depends on the franchisor transferring knowledge to the franchisee. Untrainable people will not learn the systems and follow them. There are many other questions to ask before you buy a franchise, but you?re off to a good start. The next obvious question: ?Which franchise should I buy?? Look for answers in a future column.

Note: How can you improve your business? Dr. John Hayes will help you discover points of opportunity. Free analysis for qualifying businesses. Send a paragraph describing your business; selected businesses may be featured in Kuwait?s My Business. Dr. Hayes has worked with an impressive international list of independent and franchised businesses. He is a professor in the College of Business at GUST. Contact him at questions@hayesworldwide.com, or via Twitter @drjohnhayes.

By John P Hayes
local@kuwaittimes.net

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Source: http://news.kuwaittimes.net/2012/11/01/should-you-buy-a-franchise/

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