Getting on the right road
Still waiting for a lightbulb moment? Jonathan Mills discusses the routes on the road to franchising and an insider’s view on assessing where you’re at career-wise
Of the hundreds of people visiting our Career Clinic at the National Franchise Exhibitions, there are many that come not to finalise their choice of franchise, but with a blank sheet of paper hoping for a lightbulb moment – when they’ll see a franchise and know instantly that it’s the role of their dreams. Whilst this may be wishful thinking, there is a way to reach this point. Here are some methods we use with our clients to help identify their next role. They may clarify whether the world of franchising is right for you and, if not which precisely the franchise to go for, certainly the market and sector type.
The two essential bits of information you need are as follows. Firstly, of yourself, what makes you tick from a work perspective? Secondly, understanding what the opportunity or franchise is like in reality. If the two fit – you’re onto a winner. Simple though it may sound – it isn’t. People are complex, and that ‘fit’ can prove to be more elusive than one might at first imagine.
Firstly, it’s a good idea to examine your career in depth to flush out your key drivers: what you have achieved, when you work at your best, your skills, interests outside of work and their influences. We then take you into future work. As you go through life the things you desire the most adapt to your circumstances. It’s important, therefore, to look forward, to how your priorities and wants might change, as well as considering what you have generally placed value on in the past. From this you can identify the things you wish to do more or less of in the short- and long-term future. When we think we’ve got everything we then prioritise them to form your ‘wish-list’.
Options often become more apparent going through the process. Now that you have all the options on the table, research and approach them honestly and openly to know what they would be like in reality – not just the ‘idea’ of them. The franchise exhibitions are excellent for this – particularly if you can speak to an existing franchisee on the stand and gain insights into their day-to-day routine.
The final step is to match the options against your wish-list and see which fits best and then you can make good, informed choices. The results, whilst not perhaps constituting a ‘lightbulb moment’, are nevertheless enlightening.
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