What do you want to achieve in 2015?
What projects have you been thinking it would be great to finally take on next year?
What is that one big project you would want to tackle? That one big client you have been meaning to try to land to prove you can compete with the big boys?
Have you been thinking how great it would be to FINALLY quit your day job and pursue that business idea you have been thinking about for ages? Why not plan on making 2015 the year you move out of your home office and rent office space.
Perhaps you have been waffling on whether to invest in a web design firm to re-do your company website. Have you been thinking how nice it would be to bring a partner or two into the business? What about sub-contracting all of your administrative work? Pursuing new product s? Branching out by offering new services, or perhaps expanding your business into new markets?
Have you been thinking how great it would be if you could finally exhibit your company with a booth at your industry’s annual trade show?
Have you been thinking how cool it would be to teach a class at your local college, start a blog, serve on an industry panel, give a talk, start a MeetUp?
Well…what is holding you back? The answer isn’t time. We ALL have time constraints. That’s a cop out.
In my work as a business consultant and executive coach, I have heard every conceivable excuse. That is exactly what the reasons are that people give for not pursuing their business bucket list.
The underlying factor preventing people from pursuing their dreams can be summed up in a SINGLE word. It’s called… FEAR!
Fear takes many forms. There’s fear of the unknown, since we are all creatures of habit. In these days of little/no job security a primal fear many potential entrepreneurs posses that I work on is a fear of falling without a safety net…aka. a FEAR OF (BUSINESS START UP) FAILURE.
Well…perhaps you might fail. But ask yourself this: “What if I didn’t fail?”
What if you swung for the fences, and hit the ball out of the park?
So, this Thanksgiving be sure to be thankful for all you have. Then file away that secret you won’t tell anyone else that you are going to pursue your bucket list of things you’ve always wanted to do, to start a business in 2015.
Make a list of all those long shot, pipe dream goals you haves.
Write down what you think it is going to take, to accomplish each bucket list item. Be sure to set a start and end date for each project, then prioritize your business start up bucket list by percent probability of completion and the potential positive impact they will have on your (and your family’s) life. Don’t forget to include the resources each will take to complete, including the people you will need to enlist to get those wish list items from dream to reality. Once you finalize your 2015 project list, get into that runner’s crouch and prepare (using strategic planning) to sprint out of the blocks in 2015 on the sprint to complete your bucket list.
Here’s to your business start up success in 2015.
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Ethan L. Chazin, MBA
President & Founder
The Chazin Group, LLC
Tel: (201) 683-3399
Email: EThan@TheChazinGroup.com
Tag Archives: franchising
Follow Your Passions to a Career in Franchising
Follow Your Passions For Business Success…Pursue Franchising.
When was the last time you were truly HAPPY?
Not “Kid on a swing!” happy, but…
The truth is you can absolutely follow your passions to a dream career..with FRANCHISING!
Why should you pursue your passion for an ideal career esp. franchising?
“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the hear, you’ll know it when you find it.”
– Steve Jobs
Start by revisiting your entire career. go back and think of all the things you’ve ever done. Not just paid work but unpaid internships, volunteer work, donating you time to community events, tutoring…think back on everything. what did you LOVE to do? What did you absolutely hate.
The beauty of this RESUME FOREVER career assessment is, you will start to see patterns emerge of the type of people you love working with, the type of work environments you thrive in and the types of cultures within organizations that match your morals, values and ethics.
Think of the things you are passionate about. Now, all the things you are extremely proficient in. Where those two worlds overlap, you have found the intersection of your short list of potential careers that fulfill you.
“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born…and the day you find out why.”
– Mark Twain
And that is why franchising holds such appeal for people considering a career transition or looking for a great alternate career to pursue.
The benefits are many but there are a few key reasons why you might consider franchising.
Rather than struggle in entrepreneurship trying to find and then create an entirely new business model from scratch, franchises are proven business models that have been vetted in the marketplace. Their products and services have a customer base.
Franchisers have already done the heavy lifting for you!
They have built the business models, established sales programs and marketing, have available base of operations, provide you with matching advertising funds, etc…
Everything you need to launch your new business has already been developed FOR YOU when you pursue a career in franchising.
What exactly IS a franchise, you ask?
A franchise is a legal agreement that allows one business to be operated using the name and business procedures of another.
There are four primary types of franchise operation.
1. Trade Name Franchising:
Provides the franchisee with the right to use the franchise trade name and trademark.
2. Product Distribution Franchising:
Provides a franchisee with specific brand name products that are resold by the franchisee in a specific agreed to market (Ex. Coca-Cola, Goodyear Tires, John Deere).
3. Conversion Franchising:
Provides franchisees with a preexisting “umbrella” organization through which independent businesses can combine their resources (ex. Century 21)
4. Business Format Franchising:
The right to use the company’s trade name, products, business and marketing plans, and receive national advertising support (ex. McDonald’s.)
During the franchiser review process,you will receive TWO (2) documents from the franchiser that you MUST pay particular attention to:
1. Uniform Franchise Offering Circular: Standard franchise document outlining a business’s operations, procedures, costs and requirements; and
2. Standard franchise Agreement.
Find your ideal franchise to work for/with.
Narrow your search to 3-4 industries/sectors and find 6-8 franchisers in each. WHY 18-32 organizations all-told?
Research shows ideal job searchers and business searches can be maintained when you limit your search to no more than 18-32 organizations to pursue.
Ample resources exist, to help you in your search for the IDEAL franchiser for you.
There are many online resources available to help you in your search. Some of the more comprehensive (BEST) places to start searching:
1. Franchise Business Review: an annual list of best franchisers to work with, by industry – www.fbr50.com/
2. FranchiseGator.com – www.franchisegator.com
Speak to franchisees.
The absolute best advice you can receive on how to successfully pursue a franchise business is to talk to franchisees who have gone into partnership/signed agreements and are working with the short list of franchisers you are thinking of working with. that is first-hand insight into the franchiser’s behavior, business operations, ethics, and how they treat franchisees.
I suggest taking it a step further…once you narrow down your list to 2-3 final candidates, why not work for one or 2 of them to see first-hand what it is like to be involved in their franchise organization.
Want to learn more? I will be presenting: “Follow your passions to a career in franchising” this Saturday, November 15th at 1PM at the NY/NJ Franchising Expo at the Meadowlands, NJ Expo Center. Attend for FREE as my GUEST:
Ethan L. Chazin, MBA
President & Founder
The Chazin Group, LLC
Tel: (201) 683-3399
Email: EThan@TheChazinGroup.com