The fear of making a mistake is the number 1# reason why some people find it difficult to sleep at night when buying or about to buy a franchise.
Franchise buyers, especially those who choose to DIY their way into franchising without the help of industry experts, attorneys, and small business accountants, tend to experience some fear. This is because people who try to navigate buying a franchise on their own tend to commit a lot of avoidable mistakes.
It’s Normal to Have Fear
When you are about to make a big, life-changing decision like purchasing a franchise, for example, it’s only natural to have a little bit of fear. We would be surprised if you have no fear at all.
A lot of franchise buyers worried that they are never going to recover their money because they committed a mistake ….a couple of them, actually. And it’s this kind of fear that causes sleepless nights for these people. However, there are many ways to reduce that fear a little bit so that you can enjoy a good night’s sleep as a prospective or existing franchise owner. Here are a few of them:
Choose Wisely
The first tip is to select a franchise opportunity that’s a good fit for you. To put it in another way, look for a franchise that will enable you to take advantage of your top skills.
If you have good sales skills, search for franchise opportunities where the main role of the franchisee is to sell products or services. If you are great at people management, search for a franchise that will give you the chance to do that.
Research Extensively
When you find a few franchises that you like, make a list of questions to ask the franchise representative of each parent company. Below are some good ones you could ask:
- What makes your franchise opportunity great?
- How many new franchisees joined up with you in the previous year?
- What kind of support do you provide to your franchisees?
It’s also important to create a list of questions to ask existing franchise owners. Below are a few good ones to ask:
- Why did you buy the franchise you now operate?
- Apart from this one, what other franchises did you consider?
- Which part of the business did you like the most?
- Which part of the business did you like the least?
- How many hours are you working every week?
Get Enough Money
Aside from operating capital, which is the money you need to run the new franchise business, you will also need to have living capital.
Note: Unless you were able to hold onto your job as a new franchise business, you are not going to receive a regular paycheck for some time when starting a new business. And you will still need to pay your home mortgage and other personal and household costs. Ideally, you need to set aside at least 9 to 12 months of living capital when opening a business.
You Will Have Better Sleep
You may still have some fear even if you follow our suggestions and have confidence in the franchise opportunity you want to buy, including your chances of success in the business.
However, you will find it easier to sleep at night knowing you did more than what the majority of franchise buyers do.
