It is a lifelong dream for many to be their own boss and own a business. However, running a business can be very challenging and financially risky. Finding the right franchise that fits your personality and lifestyle can reduce the risk and make the dream of owning a business come true.

To understand how a running a franchise business can work, you must first understand what it is. A franchise is a business agreement where an individual purchases the right to use a company’s name and sell the company’s products or services. The company, or franchiser, retains the right to set guidelines and standards that you, the franchisee, must meet. Failure to comply with the company standards will result in the individual losing their rights to the franchise.

There are many successful franchise businesses available to potential proprietors. A major advantage of franchising a successful company is that they have already established their brand, advertising campaigns and have tested products and services. They know how to succeed, and have already eliminated any mistakes. A person entering into a business on their own must go through all of these pitfalls before any success can be measured, but a franchiser has already done the startup work for you and found a business plan that is profitable.

You ask yourself some very important questions before you enter into a franchise agreement with a company. Do you enjoy the freedom of testing new ideas and business models or would you rather stick to a proven track record or success? Remember that owning a franchise business means you must stick to the business plan of the franchiser. How much money can you afford to spend? It costs a lot of money to get a franchise running, and there is never any guarantee for success. Often times, you – the franchise owner – may have to dip into a reserve savings in order to pay your bills and maintain payroll.

Are you willing to work long hours? Owning a business requires you to be ready to tackle any problems that arise at any time of the day or night. Owning a franchise business is no different. It is not uncommon for a franchise owner to put in 12 or even 16-hour days, especially in the beginning. A franchise owner must take on multiple responsibilities, including human resources, marketing and accounting. Make sure the dedication a franchise requires is something you – and your family – can handle.

Find a reputable franchise consultant to help you narrow your focus and find the business that is right for you. A franchise consultant will be there to answer any questions you may have and help you navigate through the uncertain waters of franchise ownership. It can be overwhelming when trying to decide what franchise would be the right fit for you and your family. A franchise consultant will provide you with the research and support to help you make an informed decision and offer guidance in quest to become a successful franchise owner.

Mr. Oliver is a marketing agent of Frannet. The franchise consultants offer assistance to new owners experiencing the franchise owning process for the first time. From fees, licensing, taxes, and more – your franchise consultant is there to help you reach your goals and dreams of being a business owner. For more information on their Franchising please visit their website.

People love all the glamor and positive things that are associated with being self employed, however, most people never think of the negative side of being your own boss. When they first experience the lack of revenue, no one to help if you get sick and the long hard hours you need to put in for your business to work. They get discouraged because they heard all this information from someone who is a “drop out” and how they only work a few hours a day and are making tens of thousands of dollars every week or month. They don’t seem to realize that what they read on the internet was a sales pitch to get you to send them money (which is how they make money) and really is not realistic nor can it be duplicated, which is one of the keys to a good home based business.

Brian Tracy (one of the nation’s leading sales trainers) put it very simply. You are either in sales or providing a service, and it does not matter which one you are in. It is going to take sixty to ninety days of you going full throttle to make it work. Imagine an airplane sitting on a runway, for that plane to take off the pilot has to go full throttle until they are airborne. Once you have reached your cruising speed and altitude, then you must pull back to about half speed or you will burn up the engines. Starting a business is the same, after the first two or three months of hard work and the “sowing and reaping” factor has started. Then you must cut back a bit or you will burn out and now is where you reap what you have sowed, but you must sow first.

This is one of the areas that will discourage most people. They do not mind the hard work but to have to wait two to three months or longer for their business show consistent income. they feel something has to be wrong. This stems from our attraction to television shows where any problem is solved within one maybe two hours. A lot of people never learn what patience is or that life is not solved in a couple of days, weeks, months or maybe even years.

Another issue that has dampen people’s excitement is all of the scams out there that read so well but in reality are not good business opportunities. You have to do a lot of research and find out as much as you can about the offer or the company. Here are some questions to ask yourself. Do they have a good support team, am I always paying for something extra that I supposedly need, or are there good faith fees, how long have they been in business and does the offer seem to be too good to be true? Finding the answers to these questions will help you decide if it is a legitimate business or not. Most quality business to not do up sells nor ask for good faith fees, and they have a good support staff.

Once you have decided on a company or business, what kind of training do they offer and can I get answers from someone or am I left on my own. You must ask yourself do I have the expertise or knowledge to run this type of business? Am I able to be a self starter, can I prioritize and do I have enough income to sustain me until the business starts to pay and more importantly will I enjoy doing this type of work.

If you are getting tired and discouraged by endless traps that seem to keep you from getting started, I understand how you feel. I have spent a lot time and money doing research, but have learned a lot about the different work at home offers. Just in case your are interested, on my website, I have listed a few of the better sites that will actually get you started in the right direction and the information is free.

William Nottoli
Affiliate Martketer
http://www.billsaffiliatestop.com/Work_From_Home.html

Image courtesy of Freedigitalphotos.net

Sales managers don’t get much sleep these days. Scouring the landscape for orders is a character building experience. Meanwhile, the economy continues to limp along as sales managers and their master’s search for solutions that will keep their companies afloat.

Of course, management recognizes many companies have drastically cut back their inventories, but they also know some companies are still buying and they want a piece of that action. If that isn’t happening, executives usually make a change in sales managers or restructure the sales force. It’s a predictable course of action, especially if they are not familiar with, or have forgotten, how sales people fight for Team One in the trenches. The real problem may be management itself.

Expectations can be a problem

For example, management expectations can exceed the sales force’s capabilities. This can easily happen if there has not been a dialogue between management and the sales manager to set mutually agreed sales goals at the outset of each year. Motivation is normally built into the process through a sales incentive program that handsomely rewards the high achievers. While the goals must be realistic, they need to be ’stretch’ goals, which usually call for a stellar performance’. With both management and the sales manager on the same page, unrealistic expectations can be minimized or eliminated.

Since sales people are in a high risk/high reward function, executives who do not have sales backgrounds may sometimes find the rewards earned by their sales staff to be unjustified and an unnecessary burden on the company’s budget. As a result, they may be prone to reduce the size of a sales person’s territory or the number of accounts he handles as a not so subtle way of reducing the commissions the salesperson can earn. Additionally, a salesperson faces aggressive and skilled competitors who are equally determined to earn their commissions so producing results is by no means assured. Establishing and maintaining a well structured incentive system is absolutely essential to attract and keep high achievers.

Things aren’t always what they seem

Reliable organizational support is necessary to provide service continuity to customers when a salesperson is off calling on other customers or prospects. Support personnel occasionally see their sales people entertaining customers, flying to exciting locales to meet with prospects, accompanying the company President to call on an account, or being invited to a customer golf outing. This sometimes leads to members of the office staff becoming envious of their sales people undermining their commitment to sales support. What the office staff doesn’t see is their sales person being called at home at 9:30 pm to hear an irate customer report the salesman’s product had failed resulting in a production line shut down. After rushing to the customer’s plant to help resolve the problem, the salesperson finally gets home at 2:00 am. Or office staff doesn’t see the salesperson’s face when she learns, after four intense months of working on specifications and production issues for her customer that the promised order was going to a competitor who did none of the work, but offered a slightly lower price. Management needs to insure the support staff recognizes and understands the multifaceted and essential role of the sales staff.

In the final analysis, the sales force is accountable

So when sales tank, don’t be too quick to blame the sales force. Ask if sales goals have been mutually agreed, a realistic incentive system is in place and the organization is providing the necessary support. Make adjustments if necessary, however, in the final analysis, the sales force is accountable.

John Riley is president, Business Counsel Associates, a business development consulting company based in Phoenix, AZ. John is also an instructor of business management courses for business people at Paradise Valley Community College and a former business strategy columnist for the Business Journal.

He moved to Arizona after his career with Alcoa where he served in sales, marketing, and management roles. Included in his experience was six years of international work at Alcoa’s Europe, Africa and Middle East headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland where is was active in aerospace and packaging markets.

John’s site: http://www.rileybiz.com