Lessons Learned: 1 Year Into a Franchise

Why and how I got into a franchise ownership is a very long story. In short, I was unhappy working for someone else so I decided to work for myself. I always wanted to open a business, but never had that great idea nor did I ever feel confident enough to risk my life savings and my family’s well being on a unproven idea. I wasn’t really looking for a franchise, but it just kinda happened (another long story).

I vetted several franchise opportunities and found one that really resonated with my abilities and interests. I now own a residential construction franchise.

Here is what I have learned since our launch in January.

1. Be prepared to work, a lot. No seriously, this isn’t for the faint of heart, nor the lazy. Most weeks I put in 80-90+ hours. I’m lucky to finish up by 10pm most nights. Your business will likely own you and all your time for the foreseeable future if you want to be successful.

2. If you have a family make sure they know what’s in store. Your time commitment will vary by franchise, but talk to other franchise owners to really determine if you and your family can handle the work/life balance. My wife and myself were prepared as can be, but it has certainly created some tense moments despite knowing what was in store. That being said, construction has exploded since COVID and has made everything that much better (business/sales) and that much worse (time investment).

3. Bring more than enough money to the table, and pay yourself as little as possible at first. You will probably not be able to replace your income in the first year. If you were making a decent salary before opening a business, you probably aren’t going to match that (in year one). Be prepared financially to pay yourself as little as possible in the first year. Keep your profits invested in the business until you have enough profit and loss data to verify your business performance.

4. Don’t skimp on marketing. Especially if you are opening a franchise that is new to your area. We market directly to individual homeowners. Very intentional and very targeted to our ideal demo. Print, online, PPC, SEO, social, you name it. We’re everywhere. Our YTD marketing spend is almost $50k which is quite significant, but the investment has been well worth it. We have had our fair share of tire kickers, but the vast majority of our marketing efforts have resulted in well qualified customers reaching out to us. A lot of this goes back to the franchise your getting into bed with, their name recognition and online presence. I was tempted to step back our marketing when Covid-19 first hit, but I rode it out and never changed a thing.

5. Make sure the franchisor has a good support system in place. My franchise is very complicated and took a very long time to learn everything necessary to carry out the day to day operations and become mostly self sufficient. I relied (and continue to rely) heavily on my support team to run my business. I will eventually rely on them less and less, but I wouldn’t be here without them. Their support will provide the foundation for your business.

6. Follow their plan. You may be The Best Salesperson, or know everything there is to know about how to run a business, but part of what you are paying for (franchise) other than the name brand, is their knowledge and proven system. They would not have become a successful franchise system without successful practices in place. They know how to market and sell their business. Put you pride in your pocket, and listen. It’d probably be best to do what they tell you to do. There is always going to be room for interpretation and tweaks here and there. But you should follow the core principles they lay out for you.

7. Differentiate yourself. What makes your business better than the other guy that operates a similar type of business? If you don’t know the answer you will likely fail. We focus on this heavily during sales calls. Most of which is subliminal (we explain what makes us different as well) but we tend to leave an impression.

8. You are going to screw up and it’s OK when you do. Let’s just say I had one job where just about everything went wrong. I chose the wrong people to do the work and it bit me in the back. Three different disciplines, and I chose wrong each time. They ended up costing me a lot of money, and a bunch of frustration and extra work. But we made it through and never gave up. Mistakes were made, but we learned from them, and they will never be repeated.

9. You don’t need to be an expert to open a franchise. I originally thought this was a bit strange. I had zero real world construction experience before purchasing a construction franchise. Nor did I have any real sales experience. But real world “on the job” experience is just a small part of owning a business. This is where training and the support system come into play. I trained everyday in person for three weeks straight, and several weeks before in person training. If the franchisor awards you a franchise it means they believe in you, and expect you to be successful. You don’t need to be an expert, there’s so much more that goes into it other than industry experience. If you suck, the franchisor doesn’t make money. They don’t just give a franchise to anyone that wants one.

10. If you feel like you need help, don’t be afraid to hire somebody. I spent so much time and energy trying to do everything myself I nearly went insane. I hired my first employee a few months ago and now wonder how I ever did it without her. She is worth every cent I pay her. Plus, you now have someone to talk to and someone (other than your significant other) that truly understands what is going on. It can be pretty lonely doing it all by yourself, having another soul to talk to can really help.

I could probably go on forever, there are a bunch of things that apply to my specific business, but I thought I’d cherry pick the most universal lessons I could share.

From u/helloworld5609