Franchising

This week’s assignments were all about learning about how franchising works.  I found this week’s learning to be really exciting.  I have often thought that entrepreneurs have to find a new idea and solve all the problems around building the operations and sales of a business.  Realizing that an entrepreneur can buy into a business model that already solves many of the problems that a new company faces (training, advertising, supply chain, etc.) was eye-opening.  So many small businesses fail within their first few years of operation that it can seem very intimidating. Who would really want to take those risks?  At the very least, any reasonable way to mitigate the common business failure risks seems worth investigating.  Purchasing a franchise is such a proven model that I am surprised that more people don’t do it!  I observed this week that many people who own at least one franchise go on to own additional franchises.  They are lucrative enough to be desirable, and the work is perfect for someone who wants to be an entrepreneur but who also doesn’t want to go through the process of “reinventing the wheel.”  Raising the initial capital can be tough, but some people get around the challenges of fundraising by partnering with co-investors or borrowing money from friends and family.

$100 Challenge Update

This week was a really big week for my business! I was able to meet my goal of selling 28 bags of Carolyn's Cocoa Cups hot chocolate mix, which means that I made a $100 profit! I was not feeling very optimistic about my chances of reaching this goal last week, but I had some big orders come in at the beginning of the week that helped me reach my goal!