There are pros and cons of starting your own business or investing in a franchise. Starting your own business starts with an idea, an idea that is unique. You’ll want to consider some of the following steps:

• Validate your idea

You will want to do extensive market research of the product or service. My first business was an Indian Restaurant in a mining town in Australia and I remember having take-out daily for 2 months, to analyse sales trends from competitors by ordering at different times. Today, with the help of technology, you can do a lot of desktop research to validate your idea.

• Build a business plan

Put your ideas to paper and think long-term. You will want to factor a certain burn rate and see how long you can sustain without cashflow. I encourage building three cashflow models, a conservative, realistic, and aggressive model and work towards the aggressive model.

• Get Buy-In from your family

Having your families’ support will go a long way. In business, there will be ups and downs along the way and your family will be the one to provide you the support to stay focused.

• Analyse your strengths

Everyone has strengths, analysing those strengths and being true to yourself will help you identify areas where you need to engage professionals such as accountants, marketing gurus etc.

With the above in place, you will be on the right path to starting your own business.

However, if envisioning a unique idea is challenging for you, or feel you do not have all of the above in place, you may want to consider investing in a franchise. Franchises provide a proven business model and come with all the required support you need. Your individual franchise business is part of a large group, and in the right franchise, you will have a very strong support network to help you grow. Some of the things you can expect from a franchise model are:

• A proven business model
• Business Planning tools
• Coaching
• Marketing support
• Brand
• Systems and process

Read “Become a Franchise Owner in 5 Easy Steps” to learn more

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