Entrepreneurial Franchising; An Oxymoron? {Part 2 of 2}

Joel Libava
Wed, 15 Oct 2008 05:10:00 +0000
Franchising

Let's talk about things from the prospective franchisee's point of view.

As a prospective

franchisee, aren’t you considering an investment in a franchise because of all

the things the business model of franchising gives you? You don’t really expect

to be too entrepreneurial, do you? You expect a solid, proven system to be in

place so you can use the system to build your business to its fullest

potential, right? If you didn’t want to leverage someone else’s business system,

you would just start your own business from scratch, and invent your own system.

So, the

franchisor chooses the people he sells franchises to that he or she feels will

follow the system. The franchisee chooses a franchise concept because he or she

likes the products or services, and because he or she feels that the system in

place works.

Based on the

above paragraph, do you feel that a franchisee will have the ability to be

entrepreneurial?

If you are a

prospective franchise owner, do you know that you probably won’t be able to be

too entrepreneurial? Will you be ok with that? Or will you become frustrated

with the reality of working within a system. A system that is not yours!

Once in

awhile, however, a franchisee does become entrepreneurial.

Did you ever

hear of Jim Dellgatti?

Jim was an

early McDonald’s franchisee. His restaurant was getting beat up pretty bad by a

restaurant chain down the street called Big Boy, and they had a monster hamburger. Jim had to act fast, so he

invented the Big Mac. There is even a museum in the Pennsylvania town where he

invented it! {It took Jim 2 years to convince the big-wigs at McDonald's to put the Big Mac on the menu!}

Once in

awhile, the status quo can be beat.

{Joel Libava is President of Franchise Selection Specialists Inc. in Cleveland, Ohio}