Franchising

This week we discussed a lot of the aspects of franchising and what goes into starting a franchise. For a couple years I managed a casual dining restaurant that was a franchise so studying some of these other areas of franchising was really interesting to me.

The main thing that I learned this week in relation to franchising was the fact that I’m probably not cut out for the role of franchisee. I completely understand the kinds of controls and processes that companies have to put in place when they are franchising because it is their name on the building. If a particular restaurant is very poor, a customer is likely to assume that all other restaurants from that brand are going to be the same way. So, I totally get it. They need to protect themselves and the brand they have developed. All of those regulations however make owning a franchise much like working for someone else and a lot less like owning your own company. I think if I’m going to go out on the entrepreneurial limb, it will be in a way that I have more control over and that doesn’t require me to take 5-10% off of the top of my sales to pay in royalties.

I am really in a corner with the $100 challenge. Every lead has fallen through, and my company still has $0 in sales. My last and only hope is a company in Washington that is owned by a friend of my uncle. I have a call with him late tonight and am praying that it works out. Otherwise, I have fallen face-first on this project.