Risk - Are you Sure You Define It Rightly?

As a franchise consultant one of the questions that comes my way often is how much of franchise success is a strong entrepreneurial bent, how much of it is dogged persistence and how much of it is timing; the right concept at the right time?

Thinking of the concept of "entrepreneur" in such terms circles the issue but it doesn't answer the question people want to know. How can I succeed? (Do I need to be an entrepreneur to succeed?) Or, perhaps, do I choose an entrepreneurial franchise company to improve my chances of success?

The impetus of the questions is truly nothing more than, "How can I reduce my risk?" Somehow we have gone through a transition in our culture. Entrepreneurs, people like Jobs, Gates, Wozniak, Kroc, Fred DeLuca and Dave Thomas has changed our thinking. Today we have embraced entrepreneurs as those who have pushed through the bleeding edge of product development, service delivery and the technological impossibilities and created something valuable, integrous and lasting. They created things that we use today and many that have changed our world. Whereas, at one point, as late as the eighties, entrepreneurs were wild eyed dreamers willing to waste time, manpower, creativity and as much of the seed capital they could conjure on something as likely as do-do birds for specialty delivery services!

But I digress.

If you are looking to get into a business you are believing you are asking questions engineered to alleviate risk. But you are mis-defining risk. There is another word you are defining and that is ambiguity. It's a common mistake. The truth is that it is much more likely that your profession, your career, your employment position has a great deal more risk than the franchise businesses you have explored.

What it lacks is ambiguity. You know in your job with a high level of certainty (perhaps less today than say five years ago) what it is you are to do, where you do it at and that they appear to desire you continue doing it. You normally have no control of that. You don't know the risks because you are not in on them. You nominally have control over your ongoing employment.

I am certain, if you are reading this and considering small business ownership, a franchise, you believe risk abatement is a function of understanding the quality of the company. You don't have a standard by which to judge that and understanding the entrepreneurial quality of the business proposition appears to be a method to do just that.

Entrepreneur's experience greater ambiguity, primarily because they prefer to increase their chances by keeping their options open. Additionally, whether you are the founder of the franchise or a franchisee and new business owner your risk is redeuced because you understand it. They do not deny that risk exists despite that it is less than you, the reader's risk as an employee of anyone. They plan for it and use the fear and their creativity it creates as fuel.

Make no mistake dear reader. You have never decided against franchise ownership because it was too risky. Don't kid yourself. Whatever you do don't tell a franchise professional, "My wife and I have decided to pass on your opportunity. We just feel the risk is too high." Noooo...you and your wife have agreed to return to a situation with far greater risk, just less uncertainty of the thing that matters least and that is what your activity might be should your employer continue to require or even care to provide themselves, at their discretion, with your services.

What do you need to do to mitigate risk? Do not go back to the workforce.

What do you do to select a right franchise business? You start by taking a personal assessment. If you have high leadership and socialization skills you may have the stuff it takes to be a business owner. Beyond that you need to determine what are your motivators.

1. Are you primarily going into business to satisfy some personal need to take your professional experience to a higher leadership level?

2. Is this primarily about a larger financial opportunity?

3. Are you desiring changes in your lifestyle?

4. Do you feel you have been misplaced in your career?

Let me share with you that this blog is more about what you need to understand is not accurate. The more definitive response to how you choose rightly is for another time and writing.