Yes, I actually heard this comment from a business owner who wants to Franchise his business. I come across all kinds; let me explain.
We met at a restaurant through a business associate and for sake of concealing his identity we will call him Bob. So Bob has owned his business for about twelve years and like most I end up talking with, he believes he has something of value to offer as a Franchise. At first, I was intrigued by Bob’s concept as I like the “unusual”. Anyone can franchise another burger joint.
However, when talking with Bob about his business he became irritated. He did not seem to have the patience to talk about what makes his business model so unique and could not describe the various ways a potential franchisee can make money (profit centers). Instead all he could do was bark orders as to what he wanted us to do for him. That included his comment, which was made to a group of individuals sitting at the table “I have been doing this business for over twelve years, I do not need anyone at this table”. For me this is like an employee telling his/her boss that “Its not my job”. From where I stand his comment was a good indication of how he might be towards future franchisees, which undoubtedly will lead to the demise of his Franchise System.
Now to give Bob the benefit of the doubt, perhaps he was trying to show off because also sitting at this table we a few of his investors. Well it had the opposite effect on me. After his little display, I stated something to the effect that whether it has been twelve years or two years, in order to franchise your business it takes a team effort. Needless to say I left the meeting and communicated that we could not help him and suggested he go to our competitors.
In my world, franchising is not for the greedy, stubborn or controlling. I do not want The Franchise Maker to play any role in the progression of such poor behavior that will eventually result in disgruntled franchise owners. It is the entrepreneur who truly cares, wants others to succeed and desires the input from others (including franchisees) to further strengthen their system as a whole that we will take on as clients to Create Franchise Wealth. Think about it, some of the most successful Franchise Systems are those whose main objective is to cater to the success of their franchisees. I have seen it because I have worked for some of them and have seen the power created in a unified Franchise System. Do I feel bad that I turned Bob away? NO.
