Laid Off? Be A Owner Of Your Own Business
Being laid off can be devastating. Through no fault of your own, you’ve been asked to leave your job, possibly without severance pay. Getting the pink slip is little better than getting flat-out fired, but the end result is the same: You’re now without a paycheck and scrambling to come up with a plan for what’s next.
Before you start circling classified ads and scouring LinkedIn to find a lead on a job, take some time to think outside the box for your next step. Being downsized could be an opportunity to do something different with your career and start a business for yourself. Could franchise ownership be the key to controlling your own destiny?
What Is A Franchise?
According to Business Dictionary, a franchise is an “arrangement where one party (the franchisor) grants another party (the franchisee) the right to use its trademark or trade-name as well as certain business systems and processes, to produce and market a good or service according to certain specifications. The franchisee usually pays a one-time franchise fee plus a percentage of sales revenue as royalty, and gains tried and tested products and services, detailed techniques in running and promoting the business, training of employees, group buying power and ongoing help in promoting and upgrading of the products or services.”
When you open a franchise, you’re still a business owner. Although opening a franchise may seem more expensive than starting on your own, in the long run, it may be less expensive. When you start your own brand as an entrepreneur, getting up and running and building your customer base can be difficult, with unknown startup costs and little to no name recognition. Starting a franchise, on the other hand, can help you bypass many of the challenges new brands face in the beginning. The fees a new franchise owner pays are to tamp down the obstacles of opening and operating a new enterprise. To sum it up, a franchise is a business with training wheels.
Franchise Opportunities
There are as many different franchise opportunities as there are interests. While the first thing that may come to mind when you think of a franchise is fast food, there are concepts in a wide variety of niches, from retail to home-based to B2B.- Business owner
