What’s the Right Fit For You? Independent Small Business or Franchise - Jania Bailey

Looking back you might wonder how I ended up working in the franchise space. I started my career in banking in a small town in Kentucky and altogether I spent 18 years in banking. Towards the end of those years, I started to feel burned out and began soul searching for what I might do next. After leaving the banking industry I started a small consulting firm and got into public speaking for a bit. 

My career in franchising came when one of my consulting clients approached me about running the operations side of his regional chain of Fantastic Sams franchises. After a few years, I ended up going to work for corporate Fantastic Sams. Then I got the call from FranNet that my name had been submitted as a potential candidate for their President & COO position. After a few months of interviews, I landed the job and have been here 14 years this August. 

One of the key differentiators I see if you are considering whether to start an independent business or join a franchise is the back office support. In franchising, you have that back-office support and a proven process to follow. As we like to say, you are in business for yourself but not by yourself. Good franchisors have a roadmap for you to follow and they have figured out many of the best practices. 

Franchising isn’t for everyone though, if you have a great new idea and you’ve done your homework. From competition analysis to best case, worst case, and most probable case scenarios, plus you’ve reached out to your local small business development center or SCORE mentor for guidance. Then starting an independent business is likely to be the right path for you. However, if you do not have that kind of passion for a particular idea then I would say explore franchising and the many options there. 

The way to think about FranNet is pretty much as the executive recruiter for high-level franchise companies. Some people have even called us the Match.com of franchising. We mostly specialize in service-based franchise businesses. We help franchisors build their ideal franchisee profile and we match them with potential franchisees that fit their desired profile. We also work with potential franchisees and do the reverse process to match them to a franchise concept that fits their needs. 

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