2015...... Passion Successful people need qualities such as focus, self-reliance, direction and determination, but in many ways the single biggest predictor of success as a franchisee can be summed up in one word – passion. If you are absolutely passionate about your business then you are far more likely to succeed. You need to truly love the brand, the business and what you do. If you are passionate, you’ll give your customers the result they’re looking for because you care and because it’s important to you – whether it’s the best haircut, glowing skin, a weed-free garden or a fantastic cup of coffee. Passion for your business gives you a clearer vision about the brand and how you can leverage it to build your business. If you are doing something that you love, then you won’t feel as much of the stress and strain as many business owners. It takes hard work and long hours to make a business work, especially in the early days, but if you love it then you’ll have a more positive approach. Your passion and commitment to excellence will rub off on your customers and staff; people will want to work with you and customers will want to spend money with you. Passion focuses you on delivering the best service and looking after your customers. That’s what generates sales, and without sales you don’t have a business. Everything else follows. Passion comes before money. If your decision to invest in a particular franchise is driven more by the thought of making money than by a passion for that industry, you won’t achieve the same results as someone driven by passion. Passionate franchisees do much better – and have a whole lot more fun – because they are working at something they love in a business that matters to them. They are excited and proud of what they do, proud of their brand and comfortable talking about it to anyone and everyone. It pushes their buttons. Resilience Sometimes, when we try something new, it is more difficult than expected. In any business, getting started and getting up to speed takes time. A major miscalculation that new franchisees often make is expecting to be operating at peak capacity and efficiency on day one, with all systems in place and everything firing on all cylinders. Even with all the training and support you’ll get in a franchise, that probably wont happen, so don’t set yourself unrealistic expectations. You need to allow time for customers to get to know your business and products or services. You need to build awareness of your business in your local community and grow your customer database. It takes time for staff training to kick in, for certain tasks to be become instinctive and for your team to gel. You may be new to the industry, to managing people and to running a business so give yourself time to find your feet. It doesn’t happen instantly but don’t get downhearted - persist. Nothing worthwhile was ever achieved overnight or without effort. Don’t expect there to be no hiccups along the way – they are inevitable. Expect the unexpected. Can you persevere when the going gets tough? Remember, it’s not what happens; it’s what you do about it that counts. What will determine your success is your ability to think on your feet, to pick yourself up and keep going when things happen that you didn’t foresee. Positivity Be prepared for the reality of the small business lifestyle. Are you anticipating business days filled with serving customers, meaningful meetings, business wheeling and dealing and money rolling in? Dream on – in reality, you’ll often find yourself up to your neck in all the other things that have to be done. You’ll be wearing many hats: marketing, dealing with suppliers, doing paperwork, managing the business and your team if you have staff, putting out fires (not literally, I hope), making your own tea and working long, unsociable hours. You’re it – the buck stops with you. Can you remain positive throughout the ups and downs of business ownership? The bad days, the grouchy customers, the mistakes and the constant interruptions? Your outlook and attitude will impact all those around you, your staff, customers and the franchisor, and your success will be a reflection of your outlook. Is your glass half full or half empty? Will you look for ways to make things work, or look for someone to blame for things not working? When you are facing issues in your business, you need to be able to look at the reason for them and take ownership of them. Things go wrong sometimes: accept that, learn from it and move on. That’s what the high achievers do.
Posted on: Sun, 11 Jan 2015 20:53:10 +0000
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