9 Characteristics of a Successful Franchise Owner

How to Be Successful As a Franchisee

While theoretically, anybody can buy into a franchise. However, not everyone is cut out to be a successful franchise owner. From passion to patience and determination, possessing certain characteristics will help you turn your franchise into a successful, profitable business.

In this article, we will go over the characteristics all successful franchise owners should have and how you can set yourself (and your franchise) up for success.

What Does it Mean to Be a Successful Franchise Owner?

A franchise operator, also known as a franchisee, is an entrepreneur that owns and operates their own business while using the name and branding of a franchisor. Examples of popular franchisors in Canada include McDonald’s, Tim Hortons, Canadian Tire, and, of course, Gorilla Bins.

In order to use the franchisor’s name and branding, a franchisee must follow all of its franchisor’s systems along with its branding, marketing, and operational guidelines. These requirements will be outlined in what’s known as a “franchise agreement.”

The franchisee must also pay a franchise fee and ongoing royalty fees for the duration of the franchise term. In exchange, the franchise operator will receive training and support from the franchisor.

In order to be successful as a franchise operator, it’s important to take advantage of the training and support from the franchisor. However, running a franchise requires a certain level of business acumen and you shouldn’t rely on support from the franchisor to make your business successful.

Important Characteristics to Have as a Franchise Owner

As we previously mentioned, being a successful franchise owner requires some business acumen. However, there are other personality traits that are important to have. Below, we will list some of the most important characteristics that every prospective franchise owner should have.

Team Oriented

A business will only be successful with the right team supporting it. As a franchise owner, it’s important to be a team player and have strong communication skills to ensure your staff is happy and motivated.

Drive

Being driven to succeed is one of the most important qualities to have as a franchise owner. It’s what motivates you to work hard and build a successful business. Without a strong drive to succeed, franchise owners often lose motivation when things get difficult and give up on the business.

Passion

As a franchise operator, you should always be your franchise’s biggest cheerleader, so it’s important to be passionate about the business you are running.

If you have very little interest in the type of business you are running and are only in it for the money, it’s unlikely that your franchise will be successful.

Patience

As a business owner, turning a profit typically takes a long time and requires a lot of patience, hard work, and dedication. When operating a franchise, you need to be patient and put in the work to make your business successful rather than expecting success to be handed to you.

Hard Working

While many franchise operators get into the franchise business so they can be their own boss and make their own schedule, it’s important to remember that you still need to put in a lot of work and work some late nights when getting the business up and running.

Some of the main tasks you will be responsible for include:

Hiring and training staff
Creating the schedule for your staff
Managing inventory, supply, sales, wages, and accounting
Managing your staff from day-to-day
Communicating with the franchisor

If your main motivation for starting a franchise is to make money without having to put in a lot of work, franchising will likely not be a great fit.

Willingness to Learn

Franchisors provide lots of training to franchise operators to ensure they are equipped to follow their systems and branding and are able to maintain consistency.

As a franchisee, you must be willing to learn and follow the franchisor’s rules rather than doing things your own way.

Leadership

With any franchise, you will have a team of staff that need a strong leader to inspire and motivate them and steer them in the right direction.

Decision-Making Ability

As a franchise owner, you will be responsible for making difficult decisions. From downsizing your staff to launching marketing efforts, you must have the confidence to take charge and make these decisions to ensure your business is successful.

Risk-Taking

While starting a franchise carries less risk than other types of businesses, there is still some level of risk that you must be willing to take on.

For instance, if you take out a business loan to cover your startup costs, you’ll still need to pay back your loan in the event that the business isn’t as profitable as you hoped.

Starting a franchise also doesn’t automatically guarantee success, which is a risk you will need to understand.

Ready to Start Your Own Franchise? Consider Partnering With Gorilla Bins

If you possess all of the qualities of a successful franchise owner but have not found the right franchisor to partner with, consider working with Gorilla Bins.

Gorilla Bins is Ontario’s leading waste management franchisor with several locations across the Greater Toronto Area.
Gorilla Bins offers its franchisees lots of training and support to help them be successful. We also have a track record of producing successful franchisees and have tripled our revenue over the past five years.
Get in touch with our team today to learn more about Gorilla Bins and how we can help set your franchise up for success.