Lately when I review my weekly copy of The Economist, I am reminded of the fact that we are in "the eye of a storm." Major corporates have failed and others are barely holding on. Furthermore, while governments across the globe are working frantically to shore up the markets, things are far from being stabilised. To some degree we can blame the media for revelling in the story and talking up the notion of a crash or worse yet a major depression.
This has trickled down to would be entrepreneurs - either those starting up from scratch or getting into business via a franchise. And as I've seen in my own practice, this has caused some to sit on the sidelines. Others are swimming against the tide and doing all they can to pull themselves and the globe at large out of this cycle. Particularly as despite the challenges, having done their homework in regards to the market opportunity, they feel compelled to move forward and make things happen.
This makes me think about the famous "Citizenship in a Republic" speech given by former American President Theodore Roosevelt at the Sorbonne, Paris, 23 April 1910. A memorable quote from that speech reads:
"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."
Thus as I work with potential franchisees, I am honing in; looking for clues to determine - who amongst the many - will get in the arena. Truthfully, it is not always easy to tell. Sometimes even the most compliant franchisee candidates become overwhelmed with fear and walk away. Others surprise me and charge forth like raging bulls because they understand that while some large companies have failed, there are many other businesses out there thriving. In fact, some industries within the franchising sector could be considered recession resistant. Therefore with proper research and validation, the returns sufficiently justify taking the risk. Particularly as the British Franchise Association recently pointed out: "It's not a matter of pretending that the market conditions aren't tough, because they are, but the inherent strengths of franchising lets it stand out from the crowd."
Leave a comment