It’s a bit early, but have you thought about what your New Year’s Eve resolution for 2010 will be? With 2009 being a tough year for many financially, maybe a resolution or a promise to yourself regarding your career is in order. The corporate world has protected and sheltered many for years, however, there are no certainties any longer. Multi-billion dollar industries, like the telecommunications, pharmaceutical, and the automobile industries, which once employed hundreds of thousands are now truly diminished in size, and find themselves back pedaling (if they exist at all anymore) for the bad decision making and lack of future visionary planning. And who’s accountable for the many jobs lost? No one really. Executive decision makers move on and dedicated employees are left wondering what happened.

Whether it is security or loyalty, being an employee today is riskier than ever. It’s no longer safe for individual employees to leave their destiny, income and lifestyle to others who don’t have their best interests at heart. In this New Career Economy, with unemployment rising and long-standing companies closing, it’s time to revisit your original dream and look at business ownership as a means to self sufficiency and financial security.  

We’ve all dreamt at one time about owning our own business -- maybe it’s time to think about it more seriously. Business ownership can give you more control of your life -- and it can be rewarding and lucrative -- when you find the right business concept that meets your lifestyle, goals, and needs.  As there are many roads to happiness in life, there are many ways to be successful at business ownership. A couple of things do come to mind as good to have in your arsenal of tools: passion, determination, and a little bit of business savvy.

As a business owner for 26 years now, I was apprehensive at first -- maybe a bit fearful. But over the years I’ve learned that FEAR stands for False Evidence Appearing Real. Opening a business means taking a risk and rising to challenge. The idea is to take the nervous energy and turn it into positive adrenaline to begin building your ideal business. Remember you are in charge now. You can call the shots and reap the rewards for your decision making.

If you are coming from the business world, you will find that your transferrable skills built up over time can be very transferrable when running a small business. There are many support groups for entrepreneurs both locally and nationally. Your Chamber of Commerce is a great place to start and you can actively find groups using Meet-Up, an online service bringing like groups together and advertising their meetings. National organizations like WEBB (Women Empowered by Business) also provide support and a network of business owners to call upon for advice and counsel.

So make your 2010 New Year’s resolution about making the career change that will give you the lifestyle of your dreams.  Whether you have an idea to run a startup business, buy an existing business or maybe consider franchising, there’s a plethora of advice and support available to help in your research.

As franchisees become operationally and financially successful in owning and managing their first franchise, oftentimes they begin to look for new avenues of growth. As in multi-unit franchising, multi-brand franchising can be very lucrative and has become a growing trend in the industry. While restaurant operators continue to dominate in this space, other industries including financial, real estate, business coaching, automotive and hospitality, are also becoming popular as well.

Investment diversification is a big reason why franchisees might consider broadening their portfolio of brands. In an uncertain economy, operating brands in different market segments can balance each other out if one sector gets hit harder than another. However, in contrast to that, there are synergies that complimentary brands offer like referrals, shared services, co-brand marketing, etc.

Franchisors also benefit from multi-brand franchisee relationships. They have fewer franchisees to manage and are selling more units. Their franchisees typically tend to be successful operators who understand franchising and have industry specific experience.

As a franchisee, multi-brand ownership has considerable advantages:

Centralized support. The existing infrastructure needed to support one franchise can oftentimes support other business units or franchise brands such as accounting, human resources, and operations. Here the multi-brand operator is growing profits without greatly expanding the home office staff.
Balanced economic cycles. Operating brands in several market segments can help smooth the ups and downs of an uncertain economy.

Balanced cash flow. Cash flow from one business can offset a slow market in another
Co-branding. For brands that bring some synergistic value to each other like a similar target market, money can be saved in advertising, shared real estate, referrals, and marketing and PR support.
Taking on a new challenge. For serial entrepreneurs always looking for that next challenge, the adrenaline rush of opening a new business or a new concept is addicting and more exciting than managing the daily operations of a single unit.

Similar industry knowledge. Experienced franchisees can benefit from their existing knowledge and experience by investing in a similar concept in the same industry. Market understanding, co-branding, and less ramp-up time all contribute to reaching a higher level of performance faster and easier.

There are any number of growth strategies a franchisee can consider to begin building an empire. Whether investing in multi-units or multi-brands, profitability is in the numbers. Do your due diligence, speak to franchisees, and follow your gut instincts. My guess is, if you are considering this kind of investment, you’re already doing something right.

Owning a single unit franchise can be a sure path to self-sufficiency. But many seasoned franchise owners know that the money is in the numbers – or number of units. Today, roughly 49 percent of franchisees are multi-unit owners.  So if you want to grow in numbers and become a multi-unit franchisee, successful franchisees will tell you a mindset change is needed.

As you begin to consider whether your next move should be as a multi-unit operator, believe it or not, today’s rocky economy might very well be opening doors for that type of franchisee growth.

While other business owners might find it hard to acquire credit, established franchisees oftentimes can bank on their relationship with their franchisor to support their growth. If a franchisee is a known and proven operator, franchisors may be open to negotiate franchise fees and other agreement terms allowing the franchisee to expand by purchasing existing units, or expanding untapped territories. Also, for retail business concepts, the plethora of available commercial real estate is forcing landlords to be more flexible in their agreements and to be more likely to negotiate terms. And, if the franchise business model requires employees, the high rate of unemployment can take pressure off finding and retaining talented, qualified employees.

Okay, so while the economy might be creating opportunities for franchise growth, once you become a multi-unit owner, what does it take in the long run to become successful? No matter what sector you invest in, you cannot build an empire without strategic planning and effective leadership. Your strategic plan should draw on a team of advisors that includes a franchise business coach, financial experts, legal resources, and others. Depending on how many units are at stake, building a multi-unit operation requires stepping away from micro-managing and becoming comfortable with delegation.

Taking your business to the next level also requires creating an efficient, high-performing infrastructure. You will save time, money and efficiency as you systematize many of the operational processes that work well for your one unit. And, depending on the number of units you invest in, you’ll ultimately need to create clearly defined departments (i.e. human resources, operations, training, etc.) staffed by the best people you can find.
Although the initial total investment for multi-unit franchising is higher than opening a single unit franchise, the risk can sometimes be lower. Owning more units can actually increase the overall probability of success. Also, multi-unit franchisees are likely to have more input with their franchisor, creating a win-win situation for both sides. My next blog will discuss the benefits of owning not only multiple units, but multi-brands as well.