Another excellent article from franchisebrief.com. I have taken some selected paragraphs out and will comment on those.

Most people nowadays think that the only way they can succeed in life is to go to a good school, graduate, get a job, and get promoted until they are at the top of the company. Well, here’s some news for you: even executives do have some people to answer to.

Too true. But there are people who simply cannot work for other people without getting impatient. They are people who say “I can do it better” and they really can. If you are one of those people, you are possibly an entrepreneur.

Now, the next question is, are you better as a solo operator or as a manager?

There is a difference and I wish someone had told me about this a long time ago. You see, some of us are better as managers, helping to get the best out of others. And some of us are great at doing our own thing. Solo operators may outsource but they should never manage other people or put themselves in the position of hiring and managing people.

I’m great at starting things up but I’m not very interested in running an existing company and getting the next increment of revenue out of its operations. I grow bored with that. So there are different types of people and the important thing for you it so recognize what type of person you are.

The ones truly at the top of the corporate chain of command are the ones who started the business in the first place: entrepreneurs. You see, entrepreneurship offers you the chance to be the boss. Entrepreneurs get the real money while executives get salaries.

But how do you get to be an entrepreneur? Well, you’ll need to resolve yourself and make a decision to take a risk. What you need to do is start your own business and strive to be the best.

If you think about it, you will realize that Bill Gates had to start somewhere, didn’t he? You need to start somewhere too. Most entrepreneurs open up small size businesses. These businesses often cater to their immediate community. However, these types of businesses rarely become big. In fact, most businesses like these often die out with their owner.

It’s hard to argue with this. Bill Gates started out by writing software in a tiny market that took off. He pursued this because it interested him, not because of the money.

If you pursue starting a business in a field that fascinates you, I don’t think you can go that far wrong. If you are in it for the money, you may be miserable.

I have a friend who has a business that is just a money stream to him. His real love lies in music, but the business he started pays better than the music. I think he would be better off if he finds a business that involves music somehow. At least he won’t be so unhappy with his work.

If you open a small business of the type the article discusses, I suppose that means a card shop or a delivery company or something. These are usually small businesses that will always be small. And they don’t give an entrepreneur a chance to grow and blossom.

 

Another disadvantage with businesses like this is the fact that the risk factor of failure is much greater. By starting your own business, you will have to establish a name and reputation, something that isn’t really done easily or quickly.

So, most entrepreneurs turn to franchising opportunities in order to get their business going. Franchise opportunities help entrepreneurs by providing them with the name and reputation that comes with a big corporation. Franchise opportunities help entrepreneurs get started in the world of business.

Inexperience is often the downfall of entrepreneurs. Most do not realize the complexities of running your own show. Franchising opportunities help entrepreneurs by giving them direction on how to do business their way. This means that you will be able to get tips straight from those who have already made it.

Franchise opportunities, to entrepreneurs, are keys that can help them penetrate a market ruled by big names. You see, these big names have established themselves long ago and trying to compete with them would be next to impossible.

I think that franchises are perfect for a certain type of entrepreneur. If you are good at following a system, then you should look for a franchise that suits you. If you are not good at following a system, then why bother buying a system that you won’t be happy following?

The truth is that it is much, much harder to pioneer something than it is to knock off something that is already working. When you knock off a working model, you have the knowledge that it is working. That alone gives you priceless confidence that your present business will work out.

I had a very successful marketing company at one time. I visited another marketing company and had a tour of their business. In two hours, I saw how they had their employees set up, how they had their incentives structured, what their paperwork was like.

Then I went and started my own marketing company using a lot of the information I gained in those precious two hours.

But in doing so, I had to develop my own systems, my way of doing things. But at least I knew what could be done because I had seen it with my own eyes.

You can do better than I can. You can find a good system and follow it. When you knock something off, you won’t have good information to work with. When you license something, or franchise, you give someone else a stake in your success, and if you picked the right people to work with, they will help you succeed. This is a small price to pay.