How to Know When it’s Time to Quit Your Corporate Job and Buy a Franchise
A lot of franchisees come from Corporate Canada. Frustrated with the rat race and tired of working for someone else’s dream, they decide to make the jump into entrepreneurship. With so many success stories of people going from the boardroom to business ownership, it begs the question: How do you know when it’s time to quit your corporate job and invest in a franchise?
1. You are passionate about entrepreneurship.
Ten percent of prospective franchisees in Canada are looking to open a franchise because they dislike their jobs and another 4% say they have uncertain job security. However, opening a business shouldn’t be done as a reaction to disliking your job. It’s a lot of hard work and if you’re not truly passionate about it, you could easily falter, even with the backing of a franchise. Going the franchise route does give you a head start in business ownership, but it’s not like you can buy a franchise and then put it on autopilot to run itself. If you’re frustrated with your job, than business ownership might be a way out, but don’t let job frustration be your No. 1 reason for wanting to open a franchise. Passion about business ownership should be your key motivating factor.
2. You want to build up your own equity.
The problem with working in a corporate position is that no matter how good your job is and no matter how much you enjoy it, you’re working for someone else’s dream and you’re building someone else’s equity. When you retire, you may end up with a handsome pension, but you will have worked for decades to make money and equity for the business owner or the investors.
When you own your own business, all the profit you make is yours and you own something that you can be proud of and that you can sell to set yourself up for early retirement. Or, if you grow your business enough, you can step away from the day-to-day running of it and invest in other businesses, building yourself a portfolio.
3. You love a brand and want to be a part of it.
There are different ways to become part of a brand. You can own stock in it, you can be a loyal customer or you can own a franchise location (providing the brand is a franchise, of course). If you really love a particular brand and that brand is a franchise, there is no better way to be a part of it than to own a location so you can carry on everything you love about the brand and represent it to customers.
4. You can fund a franchise location.
You cannot just decide to open a franchise location and then do it. You have to be able to procure the financing first. Do you have enough saved up and do you have enough equity to get a business loan? Many franchises will help you find the necessary funding to start a location, but you also have to be in a situation where you will be able to fund the franchise location you want. There are franchises in all investment levels, from just a few thousand dollars up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
5. You are dissatisfied with your current situation.
As mentioned previously, investing in a franchise should never be a reaction to your current situation, but being dissatisfied with where your life is currently at can be a major motivator for business ownership. If you find yourself constantly wishing to be your own boss and your job brings you no satisfaction, it might be time to consider entrepreneurship.
6. You don’t want to always ask yourself: “What if?”
When you are retired and living out your twilight years, do you want to look back at your life and know that you lived it to its fullest potential? If you have any sort of inkling for entrepreneurship and you don’t bother to ever explore that path, you are likely going to be asking yourself “What if?” when you’re older. What if you went for it? What if you invested in a franchise when you were younger? Would your life have been better? If you don’t want to be constantly asking yourself what would have happened, try it and find out what will happen.
If you do decide to quit Corporate Canada and get into business ownership via franchising, you will need some help. That’s where FranNet comes in. Sign up for a free FranNet franchise search and consultation today and let us help you on your way to business ownership.
