You don't even need to go to the office.
By Jim Judy, Entrepreneur
Claudia Zertuche is living her dream.
After emigrating from Mexico almost two decades ago, she and a friend decided to explore franchise ownership. In 2005, they decided to open a Children's Orchard (a
national children's resale clothing franchise that buys and sells
gently used children's apparel, toys and other items) in McAllen, Texas.
Zertuche
and her partner spent countless hours working to launch their business,
but over time, those hours started shrinking. They were developing
employees into leaders who were capable of executing the day-to-day
operations. The owners' back-office roles became more clearly defined
and the store was successfully running without their constant presence.
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Zertuche estimates she spends around 20 hours per week working on her
business. Now a grandmother, she enjoys spending time with her first
grandchild, running, reading and traveling with her husband. She focuses
her entrepreneurial energy working on her business, but not in her business.
"It's
a wonderful situation. Neither my partner nor I need to be at the store
for it to run successfully. We are able to live the life we want while
succeeding as small-business owners," she said.
Zertuche's lifestyle design is becoming more popular
as people look for ways to achieve a work-life balance that fits their
family's need. For many aspiring entrepreneurs, the semi-absentee
franchise model is the answer.
Semi-absentee franchise owners
enjoy the safety nets of franchising, including the proven models of
success and unparalleled support systems, but they aren't expected to be
running the day-to-day operations in their business. Further, since
most semi-absentee owners only spend 15 to 20 hours per week working on
their business, the model scales well for multi-unit ownership.
However, winning as a semi-absentee franchise owner requires several important steps.
Have a CEO mindset
Candidates
interested in semi-absentee franchising are excited about the idea of
working on their business, not necessarily in their business. They are
comfortable in a leadership role, coaching and guiding their teams to
success. While some may only operate one unit, most owners choose
semi-absentee franchise ownership because they want to build a
franchising empire.
Since semi-absentee franchises are scalable,
they can run multiple units without adding many hours to their workload.
Before exploring a semi-absentee franchise, ask yourself whether this
sounds like the type of role you want to play in your business.
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Make sure the franchise you're considering is meant for semi-absentee ownership
Many
franchise systems will explicitly promote their model as semi-absentee
if that's the case. Others may have examples of franchisees doing things
that way -- even if it's not something they advertise. Some franchise
systems absolutely are not built for semi-absentee ownership. I always
recommend confirming with the corporate office and validating with
franchisees in their system whether a semi-absentee model truly works.
Don't expect to become a semi-absentee franchise owner on day one
Launching
a new business, even a well-supported franchise, is going to require a
lot of hours on your part. You'll want to be in your business and
learning how the day-to-day operations work. You'll be heavily engaged
with the franchisor so that you can execute best practices and you'll be
keeping your costs down by handling more managerial duties while you
are working to make your business profitable.
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Take full advantage of all the support that the franchise system offers
Franchise
owners have access to a terrific wealth of knowledge from people who
have already been where they are right now. There are operational,
administrative and marketing
teams ready to help at the corporate level. There are peer-coaching
opportunities from other franchise owners in the system. There are area
directors, third-party vendors, webinars, conferences and more, all in
place to help you become successful. This is an especially important
benefit for semi-absentee franchise owners because they aren't spending
every minute working in their business and so must rely on the franchise
system and support in order to succeed.
Cultivate an outstanding leadership team
One
of the most important keys to success as a semi-absentee franchise
owner is identifying, developing, retaining and renewing your
leadership. These are the people who will oversee the day-to-day
operations of your business, so semi-absentee owners need a high level
of trust and confidence in their abilities.
Begin identifying
leadership potential from day one. Challenge these prospects to handle
more responsibility while you're still fully engaged to see how they
handle it, then give them the opportunity to try things on their own.
Encourage open communication
to learn about their professional goals and see how you can be their
partner in achieving them. Finally, have a succession plan ready to
execute when the day comes that your leaders depart, so you're not
thrown back into the daily mix.
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