Tough Questions to Ask Yourself Prior to Starting a Business

Businesses succeed - businesses also fail. Why? In his book Small Business Management (published by West Publishing Co.), Michael Ames gives us the following reasons for small business failure: · Lack of experience · Insufficient capital (money) · Poor location · Poor inventory management · Over-investment in fixed assets · Poor credit arrangement management · Personal use of business funds · Unexpected growth Gustav Berle in The Do It Yourself Business Book (published by Wiley Co.) adds two more reasons to Michael Ames' list: · Competition · Low Sales A franchised business will address a number of these reasons because you are buying a business model that (if it is a quality franchise) has already gone through these challenges and has a professional management team to help their franchisees. Think of how important a guiding hand is in the beginning of opening a business to address the reasons for failure as articulated above. Of course, all of this is predicated on one very important question that you must answer prior to engaging in a franchise investigation of WHICH franchise is the right one. That first, most important question; "IS a franchise business right for me?" The answer is simple. For some people it is - for some people it isn't. If you are feeling like you should question yourself about starting a business, the article below is an excellent place to start.

If you would like to discuss how to articulate your vision, how to structure a business investigation based on FACT or how to help shape your goals and if franchise ownership is a viable medium for you to achieve the American Dream, reach out email to me:

Where does a business fit into your plan?