This growth can be found  in nearly all sectors and locations across the country… and beyond. The business opportunity is a lower cost of entry, no retail storefront, a simpler business model, and the ability to work from home. While the pandemic threatened to close the doors of many companies, it also served as a springboard for entrepreneurs who turned to home service to start their own businesses.

One of the toughest decisions you will ever make is whether or not to leave a job. This is especially true when you dream of leaving your job to start your own business. Maybe you’re feeling stuck in your current job. Ideas of what your career could be are constantly entering your mind, but instead, you take the safe route and soldier on in your current situation. Making major life changes can be challenging, but making career changes requires a careful approach and trusted guidance.

Baby boomers were raised to believe they would retire at 65. Their parents lived during a time when companies and their employees stuck with one another often for a lifetime. Retirement was for the ‘old people’ who swapped out their works station for a golf cart.

Teddy Roosevelt once said, “The more you know about the past, the better you are prepared for the future.” The same holds true for franchising, which has stood the test of time and continues to thrive.

As we think about the overall franchise business, it is a curse and a blessing. On the one hand, you probably can’t sleep because you’re so excited about running your own show. On the other hand, you can’t sleep because that little voice in your head has started screaming…”What the *&^% are you thinking? Just go back to your corporate office and behave!”

This is a question we are commonly asked. The assumption behind the question is that when it comes to choosing a franchise the right franchise a person can buy their way to a better performance by investing in more expensive franchise opportunities.

When Stephen Covey published his now famous book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, the second habit quickly entered the lexicon of the business world. “Begin with the End in Mind” is a directive that is appropriate when planning a task, creating a marketing plan or strategizing the expansion of a business. If you are thinking of exploring franchise ownership, this particular ‘habit’ is not just important – it is essential!

Dave Thomas, the legendary founder of Wendys, was once asked “What do you need to start a business?” His answer — “Three simple things: know your product better than anyone, know your customer, and have a burning desire to succeed.”

When it comes to searching for the right business, people who are gatherers start their search for a business by pre-determining exactly what they are looking for. They choose an industry, or a category or a specific business type based on something they have seen, or read about or simply feel comfortable with, and then they go gather up only those options that fall within their narrow boundaries. Their search is abbreviated because what they are looking for is easy to find. Sandwich shops are sandwich shops after all. They identify the best one for them and they commit. Options outside of their search criteria go unnoticed.

Most of us know all too well that life has a way of re-writing our life plans! On any given day we face roadblocks, disappointments, surprises, distractions, and countless other big and little events that take precedence over the ambitions we have for a better lifestyle and a richer life.

People who have a desire to transition from working for an employer to being the employer usually start their search by looking at resale businesses. Their objective is to replace their income as soon as possible and then grow the business to create additional financial rewards.

Long before someone gets serious about researching franchise ownership they will likely be asking these questions: How much does a franchise cost and how much will I need to invest?

Are you at a crossroads in your life or career?

Many of us reach a point in our lives where we ask, am I on the right path?

Is there another course I should be pursuing?

More than 30 years of hard work as an IT specialist in the banking industry ended in a layoff for Joe N., a 59-year-old who had set his sights on retirement within the next decade. Months of fruitless job searching followed the layoff. In his conversations with recruiters and the few employers he interviewed it was made clear to him that his earnings potential had plummeted due to the flood of younger tech workers who were willing to work for less.