[00:00:06] Hey, everybody. Scotty Milas here, founder of all Things considered franchising. Powered by scottmylasfranchisecoach.com. All things considered franchising is a podcast dedicated to the entrepreneur, people who are potentially thinking about business ownership, interested in researching franchise opportunity, these potentially independent opportunities as well. And Scottmylusfranchisecoach.com is an organization I started many years ago, coupling all of my entrepreneurial experience into an organization that provides a free service. That's right, a free service that helps people research and explore business ownership. We provide guidance, education, resources, so that eventually someone can make a validated decision and not an emotional decision. I'm pleased to announce that this is the first episode of ten in steps to researching and exploring business ownership. We're going to be talking over the next couple of months about opportunities and steps that someone should be taking and thought process, and thinking process and questions you should be asking along the way, again, to get to a point where you can make a validated decision. So today's first episode is really motivating yourself, starting the process and kind of getting your seat out of your backside, out of the chair and start asking the right questions. So why are you thinking about business ownership?
[00:01:43] Understanding your why. Knowing your no know are really two important first steps.
[00:01:50] During seminars and conferences that I'm speaking at, I preach to people that if you're looking to get out of corporate America, that's great. But the reason to get out of corporate America isn't because you hate your boss or you don't like the company you're working for. Business ownership goes a lot more into that. Or there are a lot more reasons, I should say, to explore business ownership, owning your own business, than just because you hate your boss or hate the company that you're working for. Knowing your why is really important because knowing what you're trying to accomplish by leaving corporate America is also important.
[00:02:33] You also may be in a position where, unfortunately, you've been displaced from corporate America and you're trying to get back into the workforce and realizing that you're in a certain age bracket and you can't get back into where you were, not only position wise, title wise, but also compensation wise. So these are two areas that I want to concentrate today on in regards to your thought process and what you should be thinking about to kind of get your butt out of the chair to start researching and exploring business ownership. Now, the first thing that you shouldn't do, and again, I say this with a grain of salt, and a lot of people want to do this is, quote, you want to do your own research. So by going online, going to Google, typing franchises, best franchises, is going to bring you into a world of information that truthfully is going to be very confusing.
[00:03:33] Let me tell you why. There are over 4000 franchises listed with the Federal Trade Commission. Not all of them are good ones, not all of them are bad ones, but not all of them are good ones either. So without knowing the direction you want to go in, the information that you're going to be getting online is going to be very confusing, very overwhelming. And frankly, it's going to put you in a position where you're going to start scratching your head and going, you know what, this is just too much. I can't do this. So the first thing that I would do and recommend to you is, and it doesn't have to be me, is find yourself a franchise consultant coach. Somebody who has the expertise, the guidance, the background, the understanding of franchising that can kind of be your coach, something that I do and help you guide you through this process.
[00:04:29] If you're working with a good consultant coach, that particular person, he or she is going to be someone that is patient, is really going to be, as my friend Emily says in franchising, take the cotton out of their ears and put it in their mouth and really listen to what your needs and wants are and really kind of dig into the minutiae of finding out your why and understanding your no know. So again, I'm here to tell you that a franchise consultant coach, someone like my organization, could be very beneficial in helping you get to the end zone. Now, let's take a step back for a second. When I say helping you get into the end zone, this process is not going to take a week. This isn't present blue and white on Monday, call you back up on Tuesday and say, what color do you want? And deliver it on Wednesday. This is a process that is drawn out, can take anywhere from 90 to 120 days. So the first step for you is to make sure and understand that you want to put yourself in a position of education and learning. You want to understand what franchising is and what it's all about and start researching and learning more about the opportunities that are out there. If you try doing it yourself, that's great. But you are going to be inundated with information, bombarded with phone calls, and frankly, there may even be some times that you feel that someone's trying to bend your arm into making a decision. So that's the first step. Make up your mind that this is what you want to do and then reach out and find somebody, an expert, someone like myself, perhaps it's somebody that you know or somebody that can be referred to you to help you and guide you through the process and at least answer your immediate questions and maybe any pessimism or optimism that you have in regards to starting your own business. So these are important steps. In the beginning, you have to get a clear mind. You have to have a clear slate. And one of the things, and one of the most important things that you're going to have to do is that you're going to have to start thinking as a business owner and not an employee in corporate America.
[00:06:55] That's going to be crucial in your decision process and validation process as you move further and further along researching and exploring opportunities. Now, all this sounds kind of crazy. So how do you find the right person? How do you determine that somebody that you're going to or potentially want to work with is the right person for you? So here are some things to think about. One, you obviously want to find somebody that has good listening skills. Again, someone who is going to take the cotton out of their ears and put it into their mouth and really take time to listen to you and understand you and understand your spouse or significant other. Or maybe there's a financial partner, an operations partner. There are a lot of things to find out. So someone like myself, a coach, someone that's going to listen is ideal. Secondly, you have to find somebody that you're comfortable talking with in coaching, consulting. And what I do, and I tell my clients this, there's no such thing as a silly question. You have to be comfortable to ask things that may be outside the box or coloring outside the lines because you want the answers to those questions and you want to be able to make that validated decision, not an emotional one. So again, find somebody that you're comfortable with talking with, someone that just understands the questions you're asking, someone who can listen to you and more frankly, somebody who you feel that you can trust. And what do I mean by trust?
[00:08:28] Trust is the ability that that person is going to listen to you and give you straight transparency in the feedback that they're providing. They're not going to sugarcoat it. They're not going to try any sales tactics. They're in a consulting position where they're consulting and providing you with information and they're not making those decisions for you. They're helping you get to a decision process along the way. Because it isn't just, yes, I want to do this. At the end of the process, there are certain decisions that you're going to be making, steps that you're going to be taking, decisions along the way that a consultant, someone like me, someone that you trust are comfortable with, someone who's listening to you, is going to be able to help you ask those questions and get those answers. I know it sounds like a lot, but to me, that would be your first step. One again, going back to. .1 yes. This is something I want to explore. If you're just looking to kick cans down the road and kick a couple of tires, again, don't waste your time. Don't waste somebody else's time. Or maybe be transparent when you speak to someone.
[00:09:44] This is what I'm doing. I'm kind of in that early stages.
[00:09:48] There's no need to be defensive in your approach speaking with somebody, because if somebody like myself understands where you are and where you want to go, they're going to respect your process and timing and not push you into anything that you don't want to do. And again, I tell this to all my clients, the idea of this process.
[00:10:10] And again, in later episodes, you can check out some of the other steps that we take in this process. Speaking with a coach like myself and investigating and researching franchises, that no is okay. Because in my view, I'd rather get you to the point of saying no or helping you get to a point of saying no now than after you've written the franchise fee check, invested 100, 200, 300, whatever, $1,000 in the business, and then realize you made a mistake, because that's no fun for you and that's no fun for me. And again, there are no guarantees in franchising. So it's important that we dig into the details and understand the direction and kind of where you want to go and your goals into the end zone, so to speak. So again, just to recap here, just decide that you do want to educate yourself and want to learn and rely on the experts, rely on the people that know, that know, because if you go into this process thinking you know more than everybody else or because you saw something online, you're going to be back up against the wall and you're going to be in a very uncomfortable position when it comes time to make a decision or not able to make a decision. The last thing I'm going to leave with you in a franchise discovery process, and I know some of you are not going to really like this, what I'm about to say, but in this process, maybe is not an answer.
[00:11:41] It's either yes or no. At some point in your decision process and your validation process, you will be asked to make a decision and it's either yes or no. There are no maybes.
[00:11:55] Maybe is just if you say maybe, you're throwing up your hands and fear and anxiety is setting in. We'll talk about fear and anxiety later on in some episodes, but again, there is no maybe in franchising. It's a yes or no. So again, a quick recap. Make a decision that this is something you want to investigate and research.
[00:12:20] Find a consultant that you're comfortable working with, that you can trust, someone that's going to listen to you, somebody who's not going to push you, but keep you through the steps in the process and keep you engaged, because it's easily to kind of find yourself walking out of the process because maybe you're not hearing what you want, but somebody who's going to keep you in that positive mindset, to keep going in the process and somebody that, like I said, that you can trust. So that would be the first step that I recommend.
[00:12:53] If you're in a position of being displaced from corporate America or looking or thinking about leaving corporate America because you're tired, you have other aspirations, financial goals and staying where you are isn't going to get to where you want to be. So again, find a consultant.
[00:13:11] Reach out to me. If you'd like, you can reach me at 860-751-9126 go to my website, scottmylasfranchisecoach.com. You can find out some additional information about my coaching services. Again, the services, education and guidance that I supply my clients and provide my clients is absolutely at no charge to them. I know, I know. There's no such thing as free. The rule of thumb here is that I am compensated by the brands that I represent by presenting them potential candidates that fit the criteria for their opportunity. If you are awarded a franchise and decide to move forward, that brand compensates me for making that quote match. So again, that's my first step, guidance here.
[00:14:03] The decision is that you have to make that you have to get your butt out of the chair, so to speak, pick up the phone, work with a consultant.
[00:14:11] I feel my services are very professional.
[00:14:15] I have great listening skills and I'm going to work at the pace that you want to work with, but at the same time keeping you involved so you eventually can get to a validated decision.
[00:14:27] So again, this is Scott Milas. Scotty Milas. Scott. Scotty Milas. Scottmylasfranchisecoach.com allthings considered franchising.com is where you can review and see all of the episodes. Close to 70, 75 podcasts now. So again, reach out,
[email protected]. Is the email address. And I would be glad to answer any immediate questions that you have.
[00:14:52] But again, first step, decide that this is what you want to do and investigate and research and put yourself in a position to want to educate yourself and learn and listen to the professionals. This is Scotty Mila saying so long this time. Until next time, make it a great day.
