Prospective Franchisors: Beware the Sirens
Part 1

"Song of the Well Wishers"

By sirens, I'm not referring to the screeching alarms sounded by fire trucks racing to put out a blaze. The Sirens I'm talking about are the ones we met in high school Greek mythology; the voluptuous temptresses beckoning Greek sailors to land on their rock-encircled island. Remember what happened to those sailors and their ships? They were dashed on the rocky coast, saw their ships torn up and founder, and were left to drown before reaching the charmers who just stood watching and smiling.

Those sailors wanted something very badly, and when they saw an opportunity to get it, they put reason aside and rushed for the score. The story of sirens and sailors is folklore on the subject of greed, temptation, and irrational behavior, but it has an awful lot to do with wanting to franchise a business, especially franchising a business prematurely.

Here's a reality check for all Prospective (and Emerging) Franchisors.

Most franchise companies have their roots in pretty simple business concepts that are brought to life by hard working, focused entrepreneurs at the helm of the ship. Without that entrepreneur's cash, blood, sweat equity, and tears, the business would not have succeeded. The entrepreneur feels a deep sense of satisfaction with the result of their hard work, but because they are human, they want more than to count cash after 10 hours of grilling steaks, inspecting houses, cleaning commercial buildings, or a thousand other tasks that must be performed or managed repetitively to produce a living. Work is work no matter how you slice it, and even the most enjoyable aspects of chopping vegetables, building decks, or cleaning carpets leave the entrepreneur open to change after five, ten, fifteen, or twenty years of repetition. In the heads of many successful business owners a tune begins to play that goes something like this: "I have figured out how to make a success of this business; I have done what others have failed to do. I know how to avoid failure and I can show others the way. Hey, maybe I should franchise." The seed is planted, and now it waits to be watered.

Our tough minded, successful entrepreneurs are also just as vulnerable, and that's precisely my message. Once they have planted the seed of franchising their business in their own minds, it quietly sits there ready to germinate. Now enters the siren that is heard by successful (and unfortunately even not so successful) entrepreneurs. Who is that franchise siren? It's a satisfied customer, a relative, a friend, maybe even a bookkeeper, or the banker, but usually someone close, who says, "What a great business you have! You ought to franchise." Boom, lightning strikes!

Such innocent statements of support and endorsement are usually made in an off-handed way and barely remembered by the speaker after they are uttered. But that isn't at all how the entrepreneur remembers the complement. The entrepreneur tingles in the glow of assurance and the signal that he is ready to move ahead. (We humans hear what we want to hear and embellish in our minds all manner of innuendo based on our emotional state.) In the mind of the entrepreneur, the seed of pleasure and reward was planted and ready to receive the siren's song of "You should franchise." Germination has begun.

Franchising a business offers tremendous appeal to many, but the coastline can be every bit as rocky as the one faced by our Greek mariners. So my would-be and prospective franchisors, beware the sirens' calls, and temper your desire with a long, hard look before you proceed. Get involved with people who really know the franchise business and want to see you safely through the franchising process. You have a good sense of people or you wouldn’t be successful. Safe, planned approaches to franchising a business do exist, but in their exuberance, entrepreneurs may not study the situation hard enough to find them.

Some maturing siren chasers, like me, who were spared the rocks, feel an urge to help others see the hazards ahead. At least that's role I've assumed. Over the years I've discovered that talking through the reality of franchising, and "getting ready to franchise" are the very best first steps for those bitten by the bug to franchise.

In Part 2 we will see how certain winds have a way of arriving at just the right time to push us into the rocks.

Copyright Nicholas A. Bibby and Matthew T. Bibby, all rights reserved. Any reproduction is strictly prohibited.