Entrepreneurs Can Channel Their Vision into Successful Franchise Ownership

Think of an entrepreneur. Who comes to mind? Bill Gates? Elon Musk? Steve Jobs?

For these and other entrepreneurial-minded innovators, it’s no secret the path for each began with a passion for innovation and risk-taking to change their lives, communities or, in some cases, the world.

In the franchising world, such an entrepreneur is not always seen as fitting well within a structured, systems and process-oriented franchise organization. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Some entrepreneurial-minded candidates can make outstanding franchise owners if they’re nurtured by the franchisor and their creativity channeled into activities that can supplement the strength of the brand in their local community.

Defining the entrepreneurial role

Typically, entrepreneurs are seen as people who identify a need in the marketplace and then try to find a unique way to address that need. In fact, many successful franchise brands started as the brainchild of entrepreneurial vision.

When Canopy Lawn Care CEO Hunt Davis saw the residential lawn care industry was ripe for disruption, he set out to create a science-based lawn care company that used technology and organic components for greener results. He perfected the process so that it could be replicated throughout the country and began to scale the business through a franchising framework.

On the flip side, however, some entrepreneurs want to follow the system and choose to use their creativity to tell their story in their market and become the thought leaders in their industry. Or they can use their resourcefulness to recruit the most talented workers to work in and manage their franchise.

Understanding the franchisor’s role

Certainly, if you are the type of person who doesn’t want to follow a process or believe the franchisor’s methods are outdated, it’s probably best that you don’t buy into the conformity of franchise ownership. But that’s not to say there isn’t always room.

For many entrepreneurial personalities, joining a young franchise may be an option. While these newer franchises have a solid proof of concept, they may be more open to creative tweaks around the edges. Maybe they don’t have their marketing or public relations portfolios as fleshed out as they would like, or they want their franchise owners to be more innovative with other value-adds, such as the best way to provide accounting services. What you don’t want to do is upset the apple cart while you’re trying to upgrade how the cart is driven.

Communicating a plan

When an enterprising candidate shows interest in becoming a franchise owner, both the candidate and the franchisor shouldn’t leave anything to chance. As a potential franchise owner seeking to join a franchise brand, you should understand that you will need to follow the franchisor’s system. Your goal can’t be to “fix” the system. If the franchise is successful, there is nothing to fix.

But that doesn’t mean the franchisor isn’t open to tweaks and suggestions. Just like any other business, the model can’t become stagnant. Some entrepreneurial-minded franchisees can provide suggestions that need to be tested and validated. If these changes improve the system, they can be implemented and rolled out to other franchisees. Franchisors can work with their franchise owners to make sure both sides understand what is non-negotiable and how important it is that the franchisee work the system.

Converting to a franchise

Finally, another way an entrepreneur can be valuable to the franchising industry is when that independent-minded business owner decides it’s time to convert his or her location to a well-established franchise location.

Even after starting a business from scratch and following all the steps necessary to build a booming business, you may decide it’s time to reduce your long-term risk and gain access to expensive technology and centralized services. At that point, you may want to become part of a franchise that can help you move to the next level or properly scale your growth.

While a true entrepreneur may want to shy away from the controlled structure of a franchised system, those entrepreneurs who can channel their creativity into solutions that can be rolled out on a local level can succeed in franchising, and “entrepreneur” will no longer be a dirty word.

R. Scott Sutton is the chief development officer of Empower Brands.