A Time For Reflection

At the end of the year people often reflect on the previous months and look at things they would like to change. I would like to ask you to think about something for a minute and not get depressed by it. Rather, let it empower you to change in 2018. If you answer this honestly, I think you’ll get a lot out of it. If you don’t want to answer it honestly, you may have stumbled upon something that has held you back.

Here are 2 questions to think about:

1. How much of your life did you spend commuting to work last year to help someone else get rich from your labor?

2. How much time did you spend at work last year instead of with your family?

The average employee in the United States spends the equivalent of 100 hours (or 2 ½ weeks) travelling to work each year.

For those earning more than $100,000 in major metro areas, that number skyrockets to over 250 hours or almost 6.5 weeks.

If that number doesn’t make you stop and think. Here’s another to think about it.

Average retirement age = 62

Average number of years worked = 35

Average number of work weeks in a year = 50

35 years X 6.5 weeks commuting = 227.5 weeks

227.5 / 50 = 4.55 YEARS

Over the course of your working life – you will spend over 4.5 years travelling to a job

What if you put 4.5 extra years of time into you? What is that worth?

Those in full-time employment in the US spend more waking hours at work than anywhere else, and that’s why it’s vital to do something you are passionate about. For me, this has always been franchising: I love the fact that you can be in business with a proven method and partners who can help you along the way. The adage “be in business FOR yourself but not BY yourself” well describes what a solid franchise brings to the table.

If you have always wanted to be your own boss, there has never been a better time to start your own business and make 2018 your most fulfilling year yet. Instead of talking about taking the next step, why not set yourself a timescale and think about some key decisions, spend time developing your idea and see if your business ambitions are truly viable.

Before you do – here are a few questions to think about:

Are you suited to self-employment?

Before you do anything else, you need to be really honest with yourself and ask: am I truly cut out to start my own venture? You need to be calm, clear-headed and rational. When thinking about starting a franchise passion and enthusiasm are essential but you need to think with a business mind at every stage. You have to take a step back and try to be non-emotional when deciding if you’re ready to go it alone. Try and look at it in the same way you would if you were advising someone else. The best advice I can give is to essentially interview yourself. Would you back you to lead a company?

Is your business viable?

You probably already have a business idea in mind: most ideas come from a problem you’ve come across that needs solving. Your idea doesn’t have to change the world. The most successful business ideas are often simple, ingenious tweaks on an existing way of doing business, but delivering it faster, better, cheaper or more easily. You need to find your unique selling point. What sets your franchise apart from your competitors?

Research and planning

Once you feel confident about your idea, research and make sure there is a market for it. Give your idea a tough grilling. Ask yourself if your idea is fulfilling a genuine customer need: will somebody really want to buy your product or your service? And, if so, does the price you plan to offer it at match what they would expect to pay?

Make sure your business appeals to potential customers, take time to understand their wants, needs, concerns, opinions, behavior: only then can you build a business that meets their requirements.

Don’t be paranoid. Share your ideas. Tell as many people as you can. Ask for feedback and you’ll be amazed what you can learn. Somebody will give you a piece of advice or the one angle you hadn’t thought of that could make all the difference between success and failure.

Where can I get support and funding?

Once you have spent time analyzing yourself, your business idea and potential customers and feel that your business will earn money, you need to find the financing to help get it off the ground. Support and mentoring are just as vital in making your business a success. Make sure you seek as much expert outside advice as possible: it’s no good asking the opinion of a friend or family member if they have no idea about your sector. Seek advice from others in the industry. Businesses that have mentors are far more likely to still be trading after five years than those that don’t. This is one of the key attributes of a solid franchise system. Having mentors and support as part of the program.