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Franchises - Emotional Fulfillment - Controlling Your Own Destiny
Does A Franchise Meet Your Needs?
When you think of becoming a businessperson by making the
transition from employee to Franchisee, you don't generally
think in terms of emotional fulfillment. However, in reality,
the evaluation of emotional factors should play a significant
role in making that final decision to join the world of the
capitalist, or remain in the realm of employee.
Of course, every analysis should include the standard of
comparing risk to return. It should include income projections,
and cash flows. It should include the analysis of financing
avenues, site selection alternatives, and many other objective
criteria to lead to a final decision about becoming an
entrepreneur. The course of due diligence should be driven by a
systematic approach to each of these items.
However, in the end, assuming the objective criteria have been
ticked off your list in a satisfactory fashion, it should boil
down to emotional fulfillment. After all, we all have a right to
be happy. That particular statement - 'we all have a right to be
happy' - has changed the course of my life on several occasions.
It was one of those statements that was passed casually by an
acquaintance over dinner one evening, and ignored by everyone at
the table, except it hit me right in the heart. It stuck to me
like red on a stop sign. As a result, I have made many important
life decisions based on emotional criteria, in addition to
objective criteria. If it doesn't pass muster on both fronts
then I look for a better course.
There are many employment situations that can meet your
emotional needs, wants and desires. Of course, there are also
many that do not, and cannot. A full examination of emotional
criteria should include the analysis of several items, with the
ultimate goal of determining whether your needs can be met by a
job, or whether it is more likely they can be met by your own
business.
Control Your Own Destiny
The degree of priority that this particular criterion holds for
an individual is probably the single most important factor to
consider before making the decision to strike out on your own.
Just how important is it that you control day-to-day decisions
about what you do, and where you do it. How important is it to
you to know that you have ultimate control over whether you stay
or whether you go at some point.
The reality is that it's not really possible to control your own
destiny with a job. Even the most important CEO's must answer to
the Board of Directors. In more traditional circumstances, when
and where you travel, when you get promoted, how much you earn,
and how long you keep your job are items that are simply not in
your control. The boss, and his boss, and her boss, control
those things. As we have seen, bosses change, as do Boards, and
status quo is sent for a topsy-turvy spin. When, and if, those
things happen, are generally not in the control of an employee.
As we have seen in recent years, decades really, right-sizing,
down-sizing, out-sourcing, and severance packages are the norm
of the employment world. The importance of these items,
including the degree of control you require over them, should
help guide you to your own comfort zone. In addition to a
systematic approach to the objective items in making a decision
to become an entrepreneur on your own, or to become a Franchisee
in a good system, these emotional factors should be ticked off
the list as well. Are you satisfied where you are? Can you
achieve your goals and dreams in your current situation? Are you
more likely to satisfy the need to control your results with
your own business? How important is each criteria to you?
Did you have to travel over your son's birthday? Did you have an
expense disallowed unfairly? Is the likelihood high or low of
the bronze (as opposed to golden) parachute at age 53, with a
low chance of a comparable position in the job market? Did you
get passed over for a promotion, did you have to work overtime
through the Christmas holidays, did you miss your daughter's
volleyball tournament because you couldn't get off early on
Friday? If these things eat at you, perhaps a change in course
is due. If you accept that these things go with the territory of
employment, then change may not be necessary.
Of course, as you progress up the ladder of promotion, you gain
some additional autonomy for these types of issues. However, you
must also try to determine if that next rung also carries an
additional risk of termination at some point.
On the other hand, will being in the business you are evaluating
help solve the problems that are important to you? Will your
business cause the same travel issues? Will the time demands, or
strange hours of being a businessperson, be an advantage or
disadvantage?
Evaluate these items honestly, and with as much empirical
evidence as you can gather, along with the other control issues
that matter to you. Then determine which situation meets your
goals more appropriately. And determine how important that is to
you. Then it's time to move on to the next evaluation criteria.
If you always use the 'I deserve to be happy' test with each
criterion, and try to determine which scenario is most likely to
get you closest to that goal, then you will know which column to
tick. If you execute this exercise in a systematic fashion along
with a systematic evaluation to the objective criteria, it will
help to provide clarity for you in the decision-making process.
The exercise should then be repeated for a whole host of other
emotional factors such as financial independence, day-to-day
motivation, building an asset of value, appreciation for
efforts, fair remuneration for results generated, free time for
family & friends, community respect, recognition of
achievements, and several others.
The bottom line is you've got to look at ROI, cash flow, the
system of support, the value of building a brand, the
marketplace, and all of the other objective criteria needed to
make a proper decision. However, in addition, you also need to
examine what you want out of life, and whether a Franchise will
help you get there.
About the author:
Dennis Schooley is the Founder of Schooley Mitchell Telecom
Consultants, a Professional Services Franchise Company. He
writes for publication, as well as for
schooleymitchell.blogging.com and franchises.blogging.com, in
the subject areas of Franchising, and Technology for the Layman.
http://www.schooleymitchell.com, 888-311-6477,
dschooley@schooleymitchell.com.
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