EXPERT ADVICE: Luke Schulte | Executive Director of Franchise Development | Handyman Connection
Stay Off the Truck
and Other Handy Tips for Franchise Business Success Over the last decade meeting with many franchisees and candidates in the home services franchising business, I’ve had a lot of conversations with people who are searching for that perfect fit and wondering what it takes to be a successful franchise owner. Here’s what I tell them. Franchisee, know thyself A franchise business isn’t going to change to fit your world, so don’t try to fit a square peg into a round hole. Do you have an engineering background and a tendency towards introversion? Then that doorto-door sales business is never going to be a fit for you. When you decide on an
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opportunity, make sure you are embracing what the business is and what it will take from you to run it. It’s imperative that you feel comfortable now and in 5-10 years. What’s the best way to do this? Dig into the due diligence. Talk with other franchisees and spend time with the franchisor asking lots of questions. During our first discussion with candidates, we typically tell them our franchise isn’t the right opportunity for everyone. We know the discovery process is the time to lay it all out on the table and help them get to a yes or no decision. And if it’s not a good fit for the franchisee, it’s not going to be a good fit for the franchisor either. It’s a shared relationship. As a former wedding deejay, I learned that knowing what songs the bride doesn’t want to hear is often more important
than knowing what she likes. In business, knowing what you don’t want is key. Be really honest with yourself about what you refuse to do. There is a franchise business for just about everything these days, so you can find the right fit doing what you really want to do.
Stay off the truck Too often I hear from franchisee candidates who think they have to know how to hang a garage door or fix drywall in order to be successful at owning one of our franchises, but I couldn’t disagree more. A successful franchisee doesn’t need to know how to do the inner workings of their business. It’s about having a solid business plan and knowing what to do with it. Hire people who know the rest or let the franchisor guide you on those topics.
