Changing Careers?

Buying a franchise can enable you to shift not just from employment to business ownership, but from one career or industry to another. As we’ve seen time and time again, in over 30 years of Franchise New Zealand magazine, people switch to franchising with huge success every year. In this spring issue, you’ll find more examples of people changing direction to achieve their goals.

So, how do you learn a whole new business from scratch? The answer is: one step at a time. You might be new to learning the business, but most franchisors will have been through the process of teaching it many times before, and they will know what you need to know, when you need to learn it, and how it is best taught.

In fact, 70-80 percent of franchisors say ‘no experience needed’ when they are looking for franchisees – and they mean it. Many actually prefer new franchisees not to have specific experience in the industry concerned, as newcomers can learn a franchise’s systems without having to unlearn conflicting practices first.

Of course, you still need to have the right skills, even without industry-specific experience. Your chosen franchise might require you to lead a team, or have sales ability, or practical skills. You’ll need to be able to learn and follow systems designed to help you operate your business efficiently and profitably. And you’ll certainly need commitment and enthusiasm for what you do, determination to overcome difficulties, and the support and understanding of friends and family as you focus totally on your business when you first start. 

So, assuming that you have the right qualities, what can you expect as you start a new chapter of your life?

Learning the basics

The nature of your initial training will vary according to the complexity of the franchisee’s role and the degree of familiarisation required with new equipment and/or systems.

For example, a training programme designed to help you run a café franchise – where you will be producing product, recruiting, training and managing staff working shifts, running a retail operation, complying with hygiene requirements and handling all the usual administrative, financial and marketing tasks required to run a business profitably – is going to be more detailed than one designed for a lawnmowing franchisee. But even then, if you are going to learn to mow 15 lawns a day, you need to know how to do it well, quickly, safely and without wearing yourself out. The training will teach you all that.

In some franchises, training may be carried out by the franchisor themselves, while established franchises will often have a team that specialises in training new franchisees in a purpose-built location. In some cases, new franchisees may usually be trained overseas. Whatever the training, it is likely to combine some classroom time with ‘on-the-job’ experience in a company-owned outlet, or possibly with an experienced franchisee.

One thing is certain: no matter how good or thorough the training programme, it will require the new franchisee to take in a huge amount of information in a relatively short time. A newcomer may be stunned at all there is to know about business management, even before taking the actual operation into account. But all the systems are in place to help you – your first task as a new business owner is to learn how to use them.

Running your own business

It’s important to realise that, even after you have completed your initial training and opened the doors of your new business, you won’t be on your own. The franchisor will usually supply an experienced field support person to work with you in your own territory both prior to and immediately after opening.

They will help ensure you're set up properly and can apply your training. Once open, expect the field support person to stay with you for long enough for you to feel reasonably comfortable operating on your own. They are not there to run the business for you, but to make it easier for you to learn how to run it yourself. The amount of time that this takes will vary enormously...

This article is published in full on page 25 of our most recent issue of Franchise New Zealand magazine. Request a free print copy or access our free digital magazine to read the entire article.

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