Franchising

Changing Careers at 50, What’s Your Next Move?

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A little foreword before launching into the search for a brighter horizon. Even if you’re not considering changing careers at 50, maybe you’re fresh out of college, maybe you’re in your mid 30’s with two kids and one more on the way? No matter who you are, and what your situation is, never settle! Too many of us work hard under fluorescent lighting in a cubicle that gets smaller and smaller every day. This is not the American dream. Why should it be yours?

If you love your job—you can’t wait to get to work in the morning— tackle the array of challenges waiting for you there, then you don’t need to read this. If you are part of the 51% of individuals who are actively looking to leave their job, according to a Gallup Survey; or even part of the 73% open to hearing about new opportunities, understand that being petrified by change can lead to a devastating life. No one wants to retire and look back with regret. You can absolutely find something better.

All melodrama aside, I once worked in a career where I felt indifferent. I owned 5 gyms and made tons of money. I was surrounded by smiling faces and people trying to better themselves, but I still left at every opportunity I could. On the surface, everything looked grand, but on the inside I was malcontent. I found myself traveling often, not wanting to return to the monotony that wait for me back at the office. By all accounts, I should have been proud of my career and what I built. I wasn’t. I had yet to find that awesomeness—the thing that fulfills me so much I wake up before the alarm clock—ready to conquer the day.

If you’re contemplating jumping ship and changing careers at 50, or any age, don’t let fear hold you back!

Don’t Let Fear Paralyze You

“Remember your dreams and fight for them. You must know what you want from life. There is just one thing that makes your dream become impossible: the fear of failure.”

Paulo Coelho

Mr. Coelho is right. Not only is he a wise man but he is a person not expected to make it. Paulo Coelho, author of The Alchemist, grew up in Brazil without any post-secondary education. He was fortunate enough to live off his talents and was making good money as a songwriter, but as he says, “I was not fulfilling my dream.” At the ripe age of 39, he decided to quit his job, give up all stability, and pursue writing full time. This is a scary move in America, imagine doing this in Brazil!

This unknown author risked everything. He went from making a modest living to having the president at the time be photographed holding a novel that took two him weeks to write. The lesson we can all take away from Mr. Coelho is that fear is the dream killer. Let’s apply this to career changes. What do we look for in a career?

  • Stability
  • Good location
  • Life-work balance
  • Salary
  • Intellectual challenge.

When your job is lacking one of these attributes, your quality of life lowers. Menial careers won’t satisfy any of these categories. You might even have a really bad boss who’s incompetent, or isn’t supportive. Never settle for this. Don’t sink into a place of complacency just for a small sense of stability. Too often people descend into a routine and are crippled by fear. They stay at a job that makes them miserable. Don’t. Take a leap of faith with yourself and make a change. Sometimes, we are our only obstacles.

Find out What You Really Want to do

“Without vision, even the most focused passion is a device without a battery.”

Kevin Auletta

The industry you’re working in now is irrelevant. Don’t limit your possibilities on what you already know or your current skill set. Speaking with job recruiters can be helpful but it’s not always enough to pinpoint your passion. Recruiters will counsel you and help guide you from what they evoke but ultimately you need to decide. Remember, you’re never too old for an internship!

Take an introspective look at yourself. What are your hobbies? What captivates you and holds your interest? What did you want to do as a child? Do some research. Find out what industries are thriving, but don’t let compensation be your only motivator. If you discover what you’re passionate about, where the market is strong, you can whittle down some titles. With some open-mindedness, the process of the elimination can help your search.

For me, it was something more seemingly innocuous. I got a dog. I have always been a huge animal lover but the experiences me and my Yorkie went through scoped my vision. Of course, I loved my dog, but as a dog owner, I experienced the challenges all pet owners go through. Buying her expensive food and treats to keep her healthy. Taking her to the veterinarian. Even taking her to the groomers became the worse. From what seemed like meaningless annoyances of owning a dog became market gaps. Why wasn’t there a better option to take care of your dog’s needs? I had found my inspiration.

This is where you channel your inner entrepreneur. What around you do think needs to change? What makes you happy?

Ascension

“Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.”

Peter Drucker

A challenging career should cultivate your professional skills as much as your job relies on your current skills. Half the fun of having a stimulating career is personal growth. Many people fatigue from a dull routine, instead of solving problems in the workplace, they’re kept busy. The true recipe for an engaging career is finding the thing that makes you holistically tick. You have to be passionate, challenged, and even the routines make you happy. Is this a realistic career pathway? I believe so.

The route that I took was owning my own business. I was never cut out to do the work of someone else’s dream; even if it was challenging, even if it was enjoyable, I found that I would still burn out, uninspired. Owning my own business was the way to go. I felt the inspiration it takes to chase down your pursuits when I was crafting my own dream. Owning a small business in the pet industry was the reward I was looking for. Working alongside animals is an inherent stress reliever. For some people, reward might be writing software that changes the way we hail a cab, for me, it was seeing a smile on a dog’s face with a brightness matched by their owner.

Not only was I surrounded with like-minded people and their cute animals, but I only answered to myself. Every triumph of my business was my triumph. I had amazing people around. You can’t do it without surrounding yourself with an ambitious and dynamic team. Suddenly I had control of my life again. I loved my work and I handled the daily tasks on my own terms. I controlled my schedule, so I got to spend more time with family and take vacations. It seemed the more love I poured into my business, the more it would grow. This was the enriching career I needed!

I urge anyone driving home from work at night, trying to reason with themselves on why they stay at a job they hate, to break away from the rut. If you have spent the first half of life doing something unfulfilling, think about changing careers at 50.

A brighter horizon is waiting.

 

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7 Franchise Advantages You Weren’t Aware Of

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Opening a Small Business Doesn’t Have to Be Intimidating; These Franchise Advantages are Backing You Up!

When you decide to  transform your dream of owning your own business into a reality you need to look at your options. The first is independent business—going solo. This is starting from scratch and building your business from an idea to a scaleable money-making endeavor. You find what you want to sell; goods or services, find a location; brick and mortar or online. A thousand other tasks come into play before establishing your financially adept business.

There is also franchising. Franchising is a method of expanding a business, distributing goods and services through a licensing partnership. The most prolific and widely-known brands are all franchises. Businesses like Panera Bread, Anytime Fitness, and Starbucks are examples of huge franchising models we all know. The person who began the business is the franchisor, who partners with those interested in investing, the franchisee. Essentially, franchising is the same route of business as going solo, only in this model someone has already went through the independent building and made it work.

Splash and Dash Groomerie & Boutique

Splash and Dash  began with an idea just like every business. The signature service provided members with unlimited monthly bath and brushing for a set price. No other pet grooming business did this. This membership service is at the core of the franchise. From this point, the brand—upscale ambiance, convenient retail products, pleasing aesthetic, emphasis on knowledge—was built around the service.  A few shops were really successful and the company grew from there.

The franchise advantage is that a franchise model’s strategies have a proven formula that has been shown to work in the marketplace. What are the franchise advantages and disadvantages out there?

Quicker Return on Investment (ROI)

Those interested in business have no doubt seen the gloomy SBA statistics showing how quickly businesses go belly up. It’s not a pretty picture. Investors pour their life savings into a business that fails in the first three years and are forced to declare bankruptcy. Entrepreneurs that work hard can expect to have their business become profitable around the third year, if the business hasn’t already failed.

One of the swiftest franchise advantages is the franchisor will work with you to ensure this does not happen to your location. A reputable franchise will measure company success on their franchisees’ success. Splash and Dash makes it a personal goal for their shop owners to break even within six months of opening doors. This is an amazing turn around rate for investors.

Lower Risk

Franchising is the best method for a business to grow to its full potential. The risk is a two-way street.

The risk is low for franchisees because the systems of business have already been perfected. Revenue streams, brand, and marketing are all pre-established and set in motion for the favor of the whole company—every franchisee benefits from this.

The risk is lower for a franchisor because the franchisee assumes the responsibility of financing and operations. A franchisor provides the tools to open and maintain the business, but there is no liability if this business fails. It will hurt the company holistically, but a franchisor will not lose capital. This is why it’s important to partner with the right fit who will give you the support you need.

Strong Profitability

Different franchise models have various methods of securing profits. Most franchises have entrenched revenue streams. A business capitalizes on a niche. This niche needs to be stable or even better growing.

Splash and Dash secures profits with a model of recurring revenue. This is based on the membership that customers purchase for a mutually beneficial agreement. A customer pays monthly for their membership and can use Splash and Dash services at their leisure. If a customer is coming in twice a week to have their dog groomed, they will naturally purchase their products at this one-stop-shop. Splash and Dash services also have add-ons for the benefit of clients’ pets. Each customer can choose to take advantage of an add-on or not, and members are discounted on all services.

This is just one example of the franchise advantages a particular company provides. Each model is different and has different methods of profiting.

Brand Recognition

Branding is loosely part of the umbrella of marketing, but instead of pushing outward on customers, a brand should be drawing them in. A company’s brand tells the story of the company. The values, products, and services the company provides.

This is a huge advantage franchise owners have over other small businesses. In the food service franchise sector, many customers are finicky. They know what foods they like and what foods they don’t like. They have their trusted brand and are loyal. Many franchise owners receive customer loyalty just because they are a representative of a certain brand.

If you choose to invest in a franchise, go with a brand that aligns with your own value and story you want to tell your customers.

Expansion & Penetration of Other Markets

That old expression, “When something ain’t broke don’t fix it” translates into the franchise world as, “My shop is seeing huge profits and everything is going really great so I guess it’s time to open a second shop and make more money.” Of course, this is the ideal situation, but rapid growth is a franchise advantage across the board.

Most franchise owners take their knowledge and capital and expand into the new market territories. They can open secondary, tertiary locations, and more. Some franchises like Panera, only allow franchisees to purchase packages only. Panera has a development plan where each franchise owner on average owns 15 of the bakery-cafes within six years of working with the company. No one can own a single Panera Bread.

A Helping Hand

Even seasoned business owners with tons of expertise can use the support of a franchisor when launching a business. Splash and Dash provides training and assistance for every step in the process from day one.

John Neugebauer, a franchise owner in San Diego told us this, “I worked in corporate America for about 20 years, had enough, and wanted to do something that made me happy. I went with a franchise over starting my own pet store because I have no idea what I’m doing. Having the support of the franchise behind me felt basically like they handed me their model and said ‘If you follow this, you should be successful.'”

Franchising should be a partnership and a good franchisor should invest in you as much as you have invested in them.

Fundamental Procedures Splash and Dash Assists With:

  • Hiring
  • Training
  • Site Selection
  • Lease Negotiation
  • Accounting
  • Marketing
  • Initial Stock Order
  • Point of Sales

Ease of Supervision and Staffing Leverage

Franchising allows for a consolidated organization. At the corporate level, a team of employees are expanding the franchise, assisting current franchise owners, and tending to the various demands of overarching business like marketing campaigns. The work corporate headquarters does offsets the work for each unit. A franchise owner doesn’t have to focus on these wider tasks and can leverage their efforts to their location. This also reduces a shop owner’s payroll because they won’t have to hire as many employees.

Disadvantages to Owning a Franchise

Owning a franchise is not the right choice for everyone. The biggest advantage a person can do for themselves is to invest in a franchise that works for them. There is a huge amount of differentiation when it comes to franchise opportunities and like everything, there are bad deals out there.

Some Disadvantages of Franchising:

  • Not Completely Autonomous
  • Contractual Agreement
  • Restrictions on products, services, pricing, and territory
  • Lack of Corporate Support
  • Conflicting Visions

No matter your business pursuit, we wish you luck!

 

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