Sacking The Boss: 9 reasons why managers buy franchises

Climbing the ladder in a corporate career has one big problem – it gets narrower towards the top. Only a few people are going to reach the heights, which means the rest are never going to progress beyond a certain level. That’s fine if you are happy there, but what if you’re not? You could change companies in the hope that you might do better, or you might want to think about starting a business of your own. If that’s the case, buying a franchise can offer a lot of advantages.

Franchising isn’t just about one man and a van – franchises also offer a wealth of opportunities for experienced executives, managers and salespeople in all sorts of industries from logistics to mentoring, education to property management, building to commercial cleaning. And if you want a complete change of direction, owning your own café, gym or sign business is an option, too.

For someone used to working in a larger company, buying a franchise can make the transition to self-employment much easier by providing proven systems to follow, as well as colleagues to discuss issues and ideas with.

Here are some reasons why franchising offers a good alternative for the executive looking for a change.

1. Many managers are specialists and don’t have the broad experience or inspiration to create and grow a business from scratch. But most franchises say ‘no experience required’ ­– if you have the aptitude and the personality, they can train you to do the rest. And, very importantly, they’ll provide the systems to follow and the back-up to help you make a go of it.

2. Franchising offers an immense freedom of lifestyle. You can choose whether you work indoors or outdoors, in an office or café, from home or from premises, alone or with your partner ­– you can work where and how you want. Franchises can be hands-on (where you do the work yourself) or hands-off (where you work through staff to achieve your goals).

3. Franchising offers you the chance to take your existing skills and put them to use in a new way for your own benefit. The Alternative Board, which provides business mentoring, is an obvious example, but there are many others.

4. The transition from employment to self-employment is made easier by the fact that you are still part of a group. You can still share ideas and seek opinions with other skilled people – the franchise’s field support people, specialists in the franchise headquarters in, for example, marketing, operations or IT, and, of course, your fellow franchisees. You’ll bring different skills and experience to the franchise and you can all learn from each other.

5. Most managers will have built up some sort of assets that they can borrow against to finance their business. This gives them the ability to select from a wide range of opportunities. A lot of franchises employ staff, and offer the skilled manager considerable potential for building a really worthwhile business of their own.

6. A franchise can be part-time or full-time. Some management couples start off buying a franchise which their partner operates until the business has grown enough (or the couple feel comfortable enough) for them to leave and work in the business themselves.

7. Franchising offers potential for growth. Skilled managers can operate multiple outlets and even build chains of their own within many franchise systems. Quinovic, Small Business Accounting, EmbroidMe, Columbus Coffee and many more have franchisees with more than one outlet. This can offer considerable rewards.

8. Master franchises are also a good option for experienced managers.

Regional master franchises are common in franchise systems with a large number of franchisees such as home services or courier businesses. The regional master franchisee is usually required to manage the marketing, training, development and logistics of the franchisees on a local basis – a role which requires considerable management and leadership skills.

National master franchises are also available for overseas companies wishing to expand their systems into the NZ market in conjunction with a local person or company. Master franchises are often a longer-term proposition involving a larger investment, but the return is commensurately greater.

9. Whatever the business you choose, owning a franchise can be a great way of increasing your net worth. By being part of a nationally-recognised brand, the business you create will be worth more when the time comes to sell.

So if you have management skills and are looking for a change and a chance to build something of your own, start exploring what’s available via the Westpac Directory of Franchising. You’ll find more opportunities than you expected.

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