Franchising

Have you ever wandered into an establishment and thought to yourself, I can totally run this better than they can.  I will be the first to admit that I think that constantly, especially since moving to Southern Idaho. The people here are more laid back and would prefer to do things as they have always been done. I, on the other hand, prefer a fast pace environment that is always striving to improve. This week we began learning about franchising. While I have joked many times about owning this establishment or that it isn't really something that I would actually do. I am not at a place in my life where I want to devote 80+ hours a week to making a business work. I don't want to invest a lot of capital and hope that everything works out. I think franchising is better suited for younger people with little familial responsibility or those who have worked their way up through a business and it is the next logical step.

I enjoyed reading about how Baby Legs came to be. I thought it was an inspirational story of a snowboard bum turned entrepreneur. She came up with the idea to help her baby's rash and it became an instant hit. In watching this Acton Hero you can sense that while she is pleased with her accomplishment she doesn't sound confident in her new found  career. I think she yearns for the freedom she had on the slope.

Steve Jobs is a very inspirational man. He went to the beat of his own drum and always believed that it would work out for him. He was constantly revising his latest idea to make it even better. I think this is an important thing to remember. No matter how great we think our idea is, we can always improve and make it better. This helps keep us on our toes and focused on big and small picture.

After reading the IceDelights Case study I am even more leery of entering the franchise market. While there are may pros/cons I would definitely hesitate if  my investment team wasn't clearly in agreement in how to proceed. You will always have some who are more conservative than others and they often have a good reason to be. Investments such as this case involve a lot of capital and commitment. Failure can have long reaching effects.

$100 Project
This was a bit of a slow week. However, on Thursday I was tasked with finding an item for a customer that I hadn't researched before. After an hour on the internet and several calls to local supply stores I found the requested item and got a quote back to the customer. She was thrilled and promptly placed her order. Once payment is received I will add an additional $15 to my project total bringing me to $90 profit. With just a short period of time left I anticipate achieving and surpassing the original goal of $100 as I have two haircuts scheduled for this week.