There’s a saying in franchising circles: ‘Once a pickle, your days as a cucumber are over’.
The meaning is that once franchisees have been in business for themselves, they rarely slot back comfortably into a traditional workforce role. But this doesn’t mean all end up on cloud nine. Much depends on how well they match themselves to their system of choice.
If it’s dog washing you had better get on well with dogs (or have a decent medical plan). If you have a moral objection to junk food then you’re not going to feel good about selling doughnuts. If you hate the conspicuousness of driving a sign-written van then a mobile service franchise might not be for you. If you want weekends off, stay away from real estate.
The Franchise Council of Australia suggests that if you want to enjoy your work, choose something that fits your self-image and gives you a sense of purpose, or success might prove elusive. In fact it’s not unusual to see franchisees swap systems when they discover they’re personally uncomfortable with a particular product or service.
“Success in franchised business is mostly about having a passion for what you do,” says SafetyQuip building and utilities franchise principal Gary Shearer. “You can be trained and equipped to do just about anything but you have to believe it’s proper and worthwhile or you’re going to end up miserable, unmotivated and unfulfilled – and probably blame everyone else for it.”
At its recent conference, SafetyQuip home maintenance franchise conducted a poll of franchisees and without exception, ‘pride in delivering safety’ ranked highest in terms of job satisfaction. As one might expect, financial success also ranked highly, however it was not the primary driver. Later, several franchisees said that it started out that way but that their priorities had changed as they came to understand the importance of what they deliver.
“Our customers look to us to give them guidance and assistance in keeping their staff safe,” says SafetyQuip franchisee, Eve Cook. “All want to send their employees home safely to their families. Workplace accidents take a bigger toll on individuals, families and the community than road accidents do and we’re at the leading edge of prevention. We count. Pride in your work - knowing it’s valuable - is just so important.”
The sentiment is echoed by another franchisee, Mark Bartlett:
“SafetyQuip provides me with a feeling of helping small to medium-sized business that the monoliths tend to ignore – when I finish each day, I know I have made a difference,” he says.
According to Shearer, the impact of this sense of ‘mattering’ comes as a surprise to almost every franchisee.
“They like the thought of being in a socially responsible role but when they’re welcomed with open arms by businesspeople they have never met before, they begin to understand what a crucial gap in the market they’re filling,” he says, “They might turn up at an appointment or take a phone call expecting selling to be a challenge and find they’re regarded as heaven-sent.”
SafetyQuip franchisees typically start out with a stocked mobile van that visits client workplaces (a real point of difference to the panel-beater used to a disinterested rep in a Commodore), then progress to a multi-van fleet, anchored by a static SafetyShop.
“They can quite quickly find themselves in a while collar role with a team of employees in a very substantial business,” Shearer says. “That’s a big source of pride as well, and by then they’re in a position to help non-profit, community-based organisations with advice and at-cost product. They can hold their heads high on High Street.”
“There are many other types of business we could be involved with but we don’t feel that they would gain us the respect and confidence that we enjoy from partnering our customers and preventing injury and deaths,” Cook adds.
“We see our share of tragedy when we’re called in after the event,” Shearer states. “We see how devastated everyone is when someone gets hurt, and it’s made all the worse by knowing how simple it might have been to prevent. I guess that comes with the territory. But so does an immense satisfaction in solving the problem. I don’t know that you would call us guardian angels… but then again, I guess there is no reason why you wouldn’t. It’s what we do.”
11-Jan-2006