Publisher's Comment

Could you become a franchise millionaire?

Many readers of The Franchise Magazine during the last 25 years have reached significant wealth and some are genuine franchise owner millionaires. They took their time, sorted the wheat from the chaff and, having found the brand that they believed in, they invested their time, ability and money into following their vision through to success.

With this in mind, as a reader of The Franchise Magazine, the idea of finding your ideal franchise and eventually becoming a franchise owner millionaire is realistic and attainable.

As a franchise owner, you can be relatively independent, although you will be representing the brand and following their system for your future security and wealth. However, you must always remember there are thousands of franchise owners throughout the UK who do not aspire to become millionaire owner operators. They are quite satisfied to earn anything from £50,000 to £200,000 a year since that provides them with the revenue that they need to satisfy their various goals and ambitions.

Other players in the franchise market, including the franchisors and the suppliers, have also reached a seven figure net worth. So whether you are looking to discover and join the right franchise brand or whether you have a brilliant idea upon which you will be able to build a genuine Business Format Franchise with the best advice and guidance then the opportunity is there.

Today there is a wide range of franchise opportunities available and it is your responsibility to identify those that will be of greatest interest. You will also need to involve either directly or indirectly every member of your family. You then have to decide whether you are looking for a genuine ground floor opportunity or a brand that has now established itself over the last four to five years and is delivering projected turnover and profits to their franchise owners or a very well established famous franchise brand where you will hope to repeat the success of others that have gone before you.

With over 1,400 different franchise opportunities, careful research must be taken to ensure that you are only meeting with and considering the quality brands that have the ability to deliver everything expected. As a prospective franchise owner, you need to understand that if you have the required capital and skills then you will have a value that will be sought by the franchisors. The more capable you are in their assessment of owning, operating and developing their franchise to its full potential, the higher your value is to them.

You are where you are now as a result of all of your past actions and amount of money that you have available to invest into a franchise is very important. As such, you should not overstretch yourself in relation to securing additional funds and ideally find the comfort level in relation to putting a certain amount of that liquid capital forward and probably seek no more than 50 per cent of the required funds by way of a loan. By doing this, you should be able to stay focused in developing your chosen franchise to its full potential.

Remember - becoming a successful franchise owner takes vision, belief and the ability to get things done.

Written by Professor Roy Seaman CFE Managing Director and Founder of Franchise Development Services