What do you need to run a franchise?

If you’re thinking about starting a franchise, you’ll need to assess your skills and decide what type of franchise fits your abilities. That isn’t as simple as chasing trends or heeding the advice of gurus. Your ideal franchise should match the type of person that you are. But don’t worry! We have a few tips to guide you in deciding on your franchise and being successful when it’s up and running.

Seek out your skillset

You know what you’re good at. It’s what parents, teachers, coaches and bosses have praised you forever since you were a kid. Are you great at dealing with people one-on-one? A small franchise at a mall kiosk may be the way to go. Love crunching numbers? Running a data-driven marketing service may be right up your alley.

Learn to play

We’ve all had a time when work didn’t feel like work – and it wasn’t just while we were goofing off in the breakroom. What tasks would you do even if you weren’t paid for them? What feels more like play to you than work? Are you passionate about physical fitness? A gym franchise will let that passion shine through. Can’t get enough of cars? An auto body shop may fill that void in your workday soul.

Be a self-starter

This almost goes without saying, but in order to run a successful franchise, you need to be a self-starter. There isn’t going to be a boss or supervisor telling you what to do, how much time you have to do it in and what the consequences are if you don’t. Strong abilities in self-motivation are key in this area of business if you hope to be successful.

See problems before they start

Many problems with franchises come down to bottlenecks. In other words, a problem was forming all along, but no one bothered dealing with it until it hit crisis levels. As a franchisor, you need to recognize and take care of problems early before they become catastrophes.

Be a people person

All franchises deal with customers in some way, whether it’s in person or over the phone. As the franchise owner, you’re going to be the last port-of-call that a customer comes to when they have a problem. By then, they may already be hopping mad, frustrated or downright irate. You need the communication skills to be able to smooth things over and calm the customer down – as well as retain their business in the future.