Many people are attracted to buy a franchised business because it offers a ‘business in a box’ solution, where the product, systems and branding have been worked out and all you have to do is to buy into the system and you’ve bought yourself secured employment through your own self employment.
Why is it that so many people seem to lose their shirt and become very disillusioned ?
The reason lies in differences in perception between franchisee and franchisor. The franchisors are keen to sell their franchises, obviously – it’s their business, and are going to be putting their best foot forward and describe how their best people are doing, or what the best case scenario is. The prospective franchisee is a willing candidate to lap this up as they want to think that they are making a good decision and want to hear that it’s all going to turn out alright.
The outcome typically means the franchisee raising tens of thousands of pounds for a few days training, a manual and logo. They are then left to fend for themselves often in significant isolation to try and build a business that they know little about and trying to appear as an expert when trying to build a client base from scratch. This is a painful experience and doesn’t match the original expectations.
