Will
you be involved on a full-time
or part-time basis?
This
is an important question to
consider when selecting a potential
franchisor. Many visitors to
our site will have business
or personal commitments which
preclude their working full-time
in a franchise project. They
might still, however, want to
enter the world of franchising.
If your selected franchise involves
operating a retail establishment,
of course, your working hours
will depend on what is standard
in that industry and in your
area or, often, be defined in
the franchise agreement. If
your franchise serves other
businesses it may have to operate
during regular "nine to
five" business hours. There
are, however, three different
situations in which part-time
franchising is not only possible
but also necessary. Let's take
a look at these.
-
In the first instance your
chosen business may involve
goods or services where consumption
does not immediately follow
production. What this means
is that you will be making
something (or doing something)
which your client can use
or enjoy later. For example,
you can produce food which
keeps well and will be enjoyed
over a long period of time
(i.e. a homemade marmalade);
you can create art objects
intended for timeless admiration
or you can provide a service
like bookkeeping which can
be done at your convenience
and used by the client as
needed. In all of these, your
job can be done when and where
you wish and the results then
given to the client for later
use or enjoyment. This transfer
is the only event that requires
both yourself and your client
to make arrangements which
involve meeting in person.
Beyond this each of you can
follow your own schedule.
This means, of course, that
you can set your own hours.
The only potential problem
with this is that you may
wind up with so much work
in your franchise operation
that you need more than 24
hours per day to keep up with
both that and your other commitment(s)!
-
Secondly, your chosen business
involves services (usually)
or goods (less often) that
cannot be conveniently provided
during regular business hours.
For example, you might be
running an official retail
store cleaning business which
is something that would be
all but impossible to do while
your client's business was
open. As well, you may choose
to operate a catering business
aimed mainly at events which
are scheduled outside of regular
business hours (or perhaps,
even on weekends). In any
case, your work as a franchisee
would not be during those
9 to 5 regular workday hours
thus making it possible for
you to have other commitments
during this time period. Again,
see our note above regarding
scheduling more hours in a
day than it actually has!
-
In the final instance your
presence at your franchised
operation is not needed on
a full-time basis. This makes
you an "absentee manager"
of your franchise location.
There are franchisors, in
fact, who offer to set up,
staff and provide on-site
management to look after such
an operation. There are two
potential problems in the
latter scenario. First, you
need to insure that you have
competent staff, especially
those on a managerial level.
You won't be there to run
things so you'll need someone
else to do so! As you can
well imagine this situation
could present all sorts of
dangers ranging from deliberate
chicanery among your staff
to simple incompetence going
unnoticed. Second, keep in
mind that your staff will
expect to be paid regardless
of how well or poorly the
operation is doing. You have
committed yourself ethically
and legally to meet a fixed
payroll. If your income from
the operation doesn't meet
this commitment you must find
other sources to satisfy the
shortfall.
There
are other part-time opportunities
in the world of franchising.
Some involve home-based businesses
you can operate at your own
convenience and some require
only that you possess a computer
and an Internet connection!
The world of "e-business"
is still primarily an unexplored
one, however, and there are
many legalities yet to be determined.
For this reason it is well to
examine any such opportunities
carefully and perhaps enlist
the help of an expert in that
field. You may find out that
you have paid good money for
a "franchise" which
is nothing more than an opportunity
to mass e-mail "spam"
messages (and become an object
of wrath among your fellow e-mail
users!).
To
summarize, if you only have
part of your time available
there are still opportunities
for you in the world of franchising.
As our site expands you'll see
many more opportunities, even
part-time ones. Why spend those
hours on the couch watching
TV when you could be making
money? |
