{"id":8008,"date":"2012-12-20T21:33:17","date_gmt":"2012-12-20T21:33:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thefranchiseking.com\/?p=8008"},"modified":"2015-07-05T23:50:35","modified_gmt":"2015-07-05T23:50:35","slug":"dont-turn-your-business-into-a-franchise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thefranchiseking.com\/dont-turn-your-business-into-a-franchise","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Turn Your Business Into A Franchise"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"stop<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Please don’t automatically think that you have something to franchise.<\/h2>\n

Because\u00a0you probably<\/strong> don’t<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Seriously; just because you, “feel<\/em>” that you can turn your independent business-or yet to be business<\/strong>, into a franchise<\/em> business<\/strong>, it doesn’t mean that you can-or should.<\/p>\n

People contact me all the time for franchise advice<\/a>…that’s fine. It’s what I specialize in. And, I’ll gladly offer my solicited<\/em> advice.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Real Advice<\/h2>\n

I don’t tend to sugar-coat things…<\/p>\n

But, lately, I’ve been holding back a bit. I’m not sure why, either.<\/p>\n

In the past 6 months, I’ve been contacted by several people who have already started franchising<\/a>. (At least,\u00a0their<\/span> idea of franchising<\/em>.) A few of their concepts have really stood out.<\/p>\n

But, not because their franchise concepts are incredible<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

The reason that their franchises have stood out, and still do, is because they suck.<\/p>\n

Their businesses should have never become franchises in the first place<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

And, if these folks would have contacted me before<\/strong><\/span><\/em> they spent a lot of money with franchise lawyers and\/or franchise development firms, my advice to them would have been to not<\/em><\/strong> do it.<\/p>\n

But, I couldn’t<\/em> give them real advice. They didn’t allow<\/em> me to.<\/p>\n

They just went ahead and did it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Don’t Turn Your Business Into A Franchise<\/h2>\n

A lot of people don’t care what you<\/strong> care about<\/em>.<\/p>\n

For example, just because you<\/em> are\u00a0passionate about low-energy lighting<\/a>, it doesn’t mean that I<\/em> am.<\/p>\n

Or, maybe you’re a former inner-city school teacher who’s super-passionate about helping at-risk youth. That’s great, but it doesn’t mean that I<\/em> am…or that a lot of your neighbors are.<\/p>\n

Let’s go even narrower. I’ll use myself as an example….<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Let’s Turn My Business Idea Into A Franchise<\/h2>\n

I like dogs. I think that they’re the most amazing animals. I have several<\/em> ideas on how to monetize my passion–my love for dogs. Except not all people love dogs. Some people are allergic to dogs. Some people are scared of dogs. Heck, some people just don’t like animals.<\/p>\n

But, lots of people make a lot of money in the pet business<\/em>.<\/p>\n

And, I think that I can do. So, here’s my idea for a franchise<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Ruff Ruff<\/h3>\n

I want to open a chain of \u00a0police dog training franchises. Franchisees would only<\/em> work with police departments. No individuals<\/em>. No businesses<\/em>. Only police departments<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Now, more and more police departments are using specially trained dogs, nowadays. These dogs can fetch<\/strong> (hahaha<\/em>) upwards of $50,000<\/strong><\/span> fully trained, ready to go.<\/p>\n

\"k-9<\/a><\/p>\n

I <\/strong>really<\/em> want to get in on that action, so I go about hiring a franchise development firm, or maybe I’ll do it on the cheap, and only<\/em><\/strong> use a franchise attorney to “franchise<\/em>” this business idea of mine.<\/p>\n

For the heck of it, let’s say that I go the cheap route, and get my franchise idea up and running with the help of an able-bodied, well-meaning franchise attorney.<\/p>\n

The attorney is well-versed in Franchise Disclosure Documents<\/a>, franchise contracts, and franchise law. Terrific.<\/p>\n

Let’s also say that I hired someone to write-up a franchise operations manual<\/a> for me.<\/p>\n

Everything’s cool, right?<\/p>\n

\"right?\"
\nKeep Scrolling…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Keep Scrolling…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"wrong\"<\/p>\n

Wrong.<\/h3>\n

Do you know why?<\/p>\n

The reason that everything is not all “cool<\/em>” with my yet to be launched “franchise<\/em>” is this:<\/p>\n

I’m not playing with a<\/p>\n

\"old<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0Full Deck<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

(Image courtesy of\u00a0\u00a0BaileyRaeWeaver, Flickr<\/em>)<\/p>\n

I’m missing several crucial things.<\/p>\n

But, I’m only going to talk about the most\u00a0important\u00a0one.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A Market<\/h2>\n

In my excitement, which included a lot of daydreaming about collecting royalties each and every month from at least 500 franchisees<\/strong> located all over the US and Canada, I forgot one thing.<\/p>\n

I didn’t research the market enough<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

I’ve got nothing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Just Because<\/h2>\n

I think<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0there’s a need for a franchise that provides K9 training-and the dogs for police departments in North America, it doesn’t mean there is.<\/p>\n