⚡ Get All Content for 20% Off ⚡

Are You an Ideal Franchisee? Here's How to Find Out. How does your personality compare? Do you like following rules or making the rules?

By Dan Rowe

entrepreneur daily

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Both Elon Musk and Guillermo Perales are wildly successful business owners. But their business styles couldn't be more different. Musk is a maverick, looking to change and innovate. Perales, whose Sun Holdings owns more than 1,200 franchise restaurants, excels at replicating the same pattern of success. Before you consider becoming a franchisee, you must know if you're a Musk or a Perales.

What is your business personality?

Both types are entrepreneurial spirits who want something more than the typical nine-to-five job. They are both hungry and crave success, but one likes following rules and one likes making the rules.

The wealthiest franchisees like Perales are lever pullers. They enjoy and rejoice in pulling the same lever and making money. They know if they follow the systems the franchisor has in place they will get the same successful results. They aren't looking to create a better mousetrap. And their ego doesn't believe that they have a better way. On the flip side, an entrepreneur itching to create something new, and always believing they have a better way, will do better starting their own business and not joining a franchise.

Related: Considering franchise ownership? Get started now and take this quiz to find your personalized list of franchises that match your lifestyle, interests and budget.

Entrepreneurs come in many different flavors. They share common traits like curiosity and creativity, and they take responsibility. Additionally, successful franchisees are collaborative, confident, resilient, detail-oriented and hardworking. While any personality type could be an entrepreneur, the most common Myers-Briggs Personality types that thrive as entrepreneurs are ENTP, ESTJ, ENTJ, INTJ and ISTJs.

Knowing your personality type can help you determine if you would enjoy starting your own business or becoming part of a franchise. Additionally, your personality can also help narrow down the type of franchise business best suited to you. For example, according to SCORE, introverts thrive in an inbound retail concept like a QSR restaurant, whereas extroverts might enjoy an outbound retail franchise like a fitness center.

The formula for franchisee success

Being successful in franchising is quite simple. You follow the systems and processes that the franchisor created and that are proven to achieve results. If you look at the top franchisees in the world, 99.9 percent have done just that. They haven't tried to reinvent the wheel. They used a proven roadmap and coupled with strong business acumen, achieved financial success.

You can easily see the proof in the pudding when you see a successful franchisee purchase an unsuccessful store from another franchisee who didn't follow the systems. When the new owner replicates the same systems and processes followed in their other stores and brings the store up to those specs, the store turns around.

Franchising hinges on every franchisee following the same systems. Think about it. When a customer goes to McDonald's for a Big Mac, they are confident that the Big Mac tastes the same in New York as it does in New Mexico. If you have a rogue franchisee that is trying to make a better Big Mac, it undermines the brand and the success of other franchisees. As a franchisee, you have a responsibility to your franchisee counterparts and the equity of the brand to follow the rules.

Franchises work because of the systems and processes in place. These ensure a consistent product for consumers and consistent rates of return for owners. Private equity investors are increasingly investing in franchisors and franchisees because they like the predictability inherent in the business model. They know they can deploy a lot of money into franchising with consistent results.

Related: Franchising Provides Owners With a Proven Model and ...

Finding the right franchisor

To be successful in following a franchisor's systems, you must first find the right franchisor to get into business with. Once you determine the industry you're most passionate about, the trick is to find a newer franchise brand that already has processes in place.

Mature brands like McDonald's and Subway definitely have strong systems. But they don't offer new franchisees other necessary ingredients for financial success, like prime territories, low start-up costs and the opportunity to ride a growth wave. For anyone getting into franchising now, the key is to find an emerging brand with good bones.

Many new brands are coming to market each year. You either need strong research skills or the help of an experienced franchise consultant to help you evaluate specific emerging brands. For example, my company works exclusively with emerging brands and, even though the concepts are new, we're confident in their systems. Rise, Brooklyn Dumpling Shop and Taffer's Tavern all rely on technology to improve the way their restaurants run. JARS, Duff's CakeMix and Curry Up Now have processes in place that eliminate the need for skilled chefs and in some cases, the need for traditional, expensive restaurant kitchens.

Related: How Franchisees and Franchisors Can Master Their Relationship

Get wealthy today

If you're the type of person who likes to follow proven systems and processes and have a roadmap for success and financial independence, there isn't a better path than franchising. It offers the right personality the opportunity to be their own boss instead of an employee. But, with the security of knowing that if you simply pull the same lever other franchisees have, you too have the key to franchise wealth.

Related: 7 Ways Franchises Help Franchisees Obtain Financing

Business Strategies, Entrepreneurial Advice & Inspiring Stories are all in one place. Explore the new Entrepreneur Bookstore.

Dan Rowe

Entrepreneur Leadership Network® Contributor

Founder & CEO of Fransmart

For 20 years, Dan Rowe has grown emerging brands like Five Guys and The Halal Guys from concepts to international sensations through franchising. Fransmart's current portfolio includes fast-growing concepts like Duff's CakeMix, JARS, Rise, Taffer's Tavern, The Halal Guys and more.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Side Hustle

The Remote Side Hustle a 43-Year-Old Musician Works on for 1 Hour a Day Earns Nearly $3,000 a Month: 'All From the Comfort of Home'

Sam Ziegler wanted to supplement his income as a professional drummer — then his tech skills and desire to help people came together.

Marketing

Ever Wonder Why Certain Websites Rank Higher Than Yours? This SEO Expert Reveals The Secret to Dominating Search Results

It's often the smart use of SEO, now supercharged with AI, particularly in keyword optimization.

Leadership

Former Interrogator Shares 5 Behaviors Liars Exhibit and How to Handle Them

Five deceptive behaviors to look for and how to respond to those behaviors when you encounter them.

Business News

AI Is Impacting Jobs. Here Are the Gigs Affected the Most, According to an Analysis of 5 Million Upwork Postings

The researcher said in the report that freelance jobs were analyzed first because that market will likely see AI's immediate impact.

Business Ideas

55 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2024.