Is Franchising Right for You

Ken Dolan: Hi, everybody. Welcome. We’re glad you joined us. We have a bunch of popular shows, the antiques and collectibles as popular beating the IRS and you’re dealing with IRS is popular. Daria Dolan: Let’s talk about this popular show. Ken Dolan: Which one is it? Daria Dolan: Franchising. Ken Dolan: Oh, she was right, 55% of Americans would have said in a survey that like to own their own business but they don’t know where to start. Daria Dolan: They don’t know where to start. They don’t know what they want to do? Well, we’ve got the solution for you. Ken Dolan: Maybe. Daria Dolan: Maybe. It’s called franchising. You know McDonalds is a franchiser which started that way. Ken Dolan: There’s tens of thousands of it and still is except that some million dollars. Daria Dolan: Yeah. Ken Dolan: We’re going to talk— Daria Dolan: Is that fun, too, franchise? Ken Dolan: There are a lot of them. Daria Dolan: Dog rumors franchise, office cleaning, building cleaning franchises. Ken Dolan: Exactly, right. Now the point is we’re going to do a little test and see if you can answer yes to these questions. Are you a self starter? Are you self motivated? Can you take directions? Why do I say directions? Because if you’re going to a franchise and you shouldn’t buy one otherwise there is a good proven track record, a good training program, they know what to do, they know how it works, don’t try to reinvent it. Daria Dolan: Exactly. Ken Dolan: Take directions. Daria Dolan: Because they will throw you right out of the whole situation and then your investment will be lost. Ken Dolan: Yes. Daria Dolan: Because they’ve got it work to a science if you pick a good one. Ken Dolan: That’s right. Daria Dolan: They know it works. They do it the same way that’s why we all love McDonalds. Ken Dolan: Exactly. Daria Dolan: You know you can go anywhere. You get the same price and the same product. Ken Dolan: I never go to McDonalds. Anyway, are you also committed to long hours? If they are yes you’re entrepreneur. There’s no doubt there’s an entrepreneur who will bend to this but you better be committed to the business long term because you’re going to sign a contract, and you better be committed to long hours. Daria Dolan: And you better have some money to invest. Ken Dolan: We’ll talk about that. Daria Dolan: Because obviously if you’re talking to a fast food franchise. It’s going to cost you multiples. Ken Dolan: Much more. Daria Dolan: Of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Ken Dolan: But don’t depress everybody. Daria Dolan: But you can get in for as little as there are some for nine, ten thousand dollars if they are home based or even mobile. Ken Dolan: The mobile Lube and stuff, yes. Daria Dolan: Exactly, generally $20,000.00 to $50,000.00 is the core commitment for auto maintenance and lodging and business services and things of that nature. Ken Dolan: There is lots of good stuff. And why consider a franchise? I think there are a lot of good reasons. Number one, you’re going into business for yourself, but you’re not going in the business by yourself because it’s a proven track record what people assumingly we hope know what you do. Daria Dolan: And you are going to into business with an established brand. Ken Dolan: Yes. Daria Dolan: A brand that figured out what people want and have felt those wants and needs of the people. Ken Dolan: Yes. Daria Dolan: And along with that even though you’re following someone else’s plan you remain independent businessman at the end of the day. Ken Dolan: Exactly. If you’ve got your pencil, of course you can play this video again I supposed but I want to give you some websites to learn more about franchising. Number one is IFA.org, the International Franchisers Association. We interviewed the president with that on radio not long ago. SPA.gov, SCORE.org is very, very good. Another one too is Franchise.About.com. Give me a couple of things otherwise—to select one. Daria Dolan: First of things you need to know your abilities. What your likes and dislikes are and what you’re capable of doing. You need to know what it’s going to cost you whether you can afford it. And you need to know what kind of competition maybe in a particular area of the franchise that you have your eyes on and the kind of demand in your community for a particular franchise. Ken Dolan: You know what you can do Daria learn a lot from that. You can learn a bunch of ways. Daria, I’ll tell you the thing you want to read. Daria Dolan: Well, one thing I do want to add before you say that because from the franchisor, the person that you buy the franchise from gives you a brand, will train you, will give you support and all their experience. Ken Dolan: Good experiences. Daria Dolan: So it’s a great way to start. Ken Dolan: You want to talk with franchisees in the area. You want to take a talk with them and say thank for you coming in. Most people will be very helpful to you. You may want to ask, “I live more for nothing? I want to work with your franchise. I want to see if I like it.” But I’ve got four letters and Daria will tell you what they mean. UFOC we got half a minute here. UFOC you’ve got to read it because it talks about fees, what you get, what you don’t get, training and everything. Daria Dolan: It’s the Uniform Franchise Offering Circular. Ken Dolan: Circular, UFOC. Daria Dolan: It’s got even list franchisee who left which you need to go talk to why did you leave? It has an audited financial statement for three years for the company itself. Ken Dolan: Pending law suits, what the franchise fees are. Daria Dolan: Or any suits that they have in the past, etcetera. Ken Dolan: Yes. Daria Dolan: All of these are very important. There are some people out there that claim they’re selling you franchises which are very heavenly regulated, and they don’t offer UFOC and they’re not legitimate. Ken Dolan: Forget it. Daria Dolan: So that’s a good piece of information to keep. Ken Dolan: Thanks for legitimate, Daria. Be sure to work with an attorney who understand franchise, franchising, franchise fee and franchise law. Final word is go to IFA.org. Daria Dolan: And you will even find a list of their member franchises. Ken Dolan: Exactly. Daria Dolan: So if you like the concept of it and don’t know which way you want to go, bingo you’ll have a list of things to look into. Ken Dolan: A very good piece at IFA.org is an introduction to franchisee. It’s like 30 pages or 40 pages long. It’s really, really good. You can download it for free, an Introduction to Franchising. It’s worth considering. Take a look at, try it part time. See if it makes sense to you, franchising. Daria Dolan: Good luck.