Set Goals Before You Start Your Franchise Business Search

If you’re searching for the right franchise to buy, it’s important to set some goals. One reason that you’re going to want to have some specific goals set up is this: There are over 3,000 franchise opportunities to choose from! With that many choices, it’s way too easy to get lost and flounder around aimlessly, trying to find that perfect opportunity.

My aim is to make the franchise discovery process as seamless as possible. (Actually, it’s my goal.)

Goal #1- Budget

You need to decide how much you’re willing to write a check for. In other words, how much of your own money (before any business loans) are you willing to risk? For example, if you’re looking at a franchise that has a total cost of $200,000, how much of that $200,000 is going to come from the money you have on hand?

If you need help figuring out your finances, the SBA has 10 questions just for you. The goal here is to come up with a budget that you can live with.

Goal #2 - Time

Choosing, researching and buying a franchise can take a while. You need to come up with a time frame; otherwise your search for an opportunity to become your own boss may be never-ending. And before you say “Hold on, Joel; I’ll spend as much time as I need to find a franchise to buy. This is a major decision, and I want to be choosy,” hear me out.

I understand that you want to be careful. That’s what most of the articles I write here are designed to help you do. But if you go into your franchise search with no goals, in this case, no time-frame goal, you may end up in a never-ending circle of “looking.” And, looking…

In other words, having no time frame could mean making no decision. Six months from now, do you still want to be “looking?” Or, do you want to be “doing?”

Goal #3 - Use professionals

Make it your goal to use business professionals before you start searching for a franchise business opportunity. And yes, you’re going to have to invest some of your money to do this. Notice that I used the word “invest” instead of “spend.” That’s because using competent professionals is an investment in your future.

For example, most franchise agreements (contracts) are 10 years in length. That means that if you buy a franchise, you’re going to own it for 10 years. That’s a long time. And unless you’re an attorney, you’re going to discover that the legal documents that franchisors are required to send you (that you’ll be required to sign) are pretty complex.

There’s no reason to try to figure out the intricacies of these documents all by yourself. Hire a franchise attorney. They’re used to reading, and even writing, franchise documents. An accountant that’s familiar with small business-and small business taxation-should also be on your list of professionals to contact and hire.

Finally, there are several small business resources that are available at no-cost to you. Check out The Small Business Administration’s local resource page. 

If your goal is to someday become the owner of a franchise, have some goals set up before you start your search.

About the Author

The Franchise King®, Joel Libava, is the author of the book, Become a Franchise Owner! He's also a franchise ownership advisor; Joel teaches people that are interested in franchise ownership how to properly select and carefully research franchise business opportunities so they can increase their odds of success.