March 2019

Last September, I wrote about my wife and I hiking up the Manitou Incline in Manitou Springs, Colorado. Fast forward a few months later, and I was at it again….This time I was not only with my wife but also my three kids; Jack (11),  Alex (7), and Kate (4).  We weren’t in Manitou Springs, but rather we were hiking Camelback Mountain in Phoenix.  Before anyone who knows of the hike thinks I am crazy, to put your mind at ease we did not complete the entire hike with a 7 and 4-year-old.  We did, however, have an amazing time completing about half of the trail. 

Anyone that has attempted a somewhat difficult hike with kids under 10 knows what you are in store for.  My wife Kristen and I have tried it before with less than stellar results.  This time was different, however.  My 11-year-old Jack is a rock star on hikes.  We usually don’t see him much because he is so far ahead of us.  On a trial like this, we made him stay within our view, but he could have done the hike twice over.  Jack’s younger brother Alex and sister Kate, on the other hand, are different stories. 

I get it for Kate, she is 4 and this was pretty strenuous on her.  I ended up carrying her most of the time, but none the less, she surprised us with her great attitude. 

Alex usually doesn’t make it more than 10 yards until he is ready to turn around.  He is a great athlete and somewhat of a killer on the soccer field.  However, when it comes to exerting energy on something silly like hiking, he wants no part of it. 

On this beautiful Saturday afternoon, things were different though.  The beginning started off like normal however this trail is equal parts amateur rock climbing as it is hiking.  This it turns out, Alex and Kate loved. 

While they loved the climbing, it created a different situation then my wife and I expected.  The incline was intense and my wife and I helped Alex and Kate up every step of the way.  It dawned on me on our way down that this was one of those rare circumstances that we actually executed family teamwork without a hitch.  Even Jack, who started ahead, hung around us to help with his siblings. 

As we were wrapping up our hike, I couldn’t help think of the blog post from last September and I couldn’t ignore the metaphor this hike presented.  While the Manitou Incline represents a great individual challenge, this hike was different in that it was a team effort. 

No business can succeed with just a great individual effort.  Every successful entrepreneur will rightfully give his team credit for their success as much as their individual effort.  One common fear we hear when we talk with prospective Monkey Bizness owners is their lack of experience running a business.  I have empathy for this, I was there at one point.  But what I can tell you now is you are never alone.  Slowly and almost unintentionally I starting building my team.  First came my father, then my attorney, then a business coach…..you get the point.

Just like our hiking on Camelback Mountain, to run Monkey Bizness I rely on a team.  Just like my daughter Kate needed help getting over the big rocks on the trail, I needed help from time to time with business issues.  I was there to help Kate accomplish the task and my business advisors are there to help me when I call on them.

The bonus of a franchise system is that you have a built-in support system to help you.  If you asked me to name the two or three reasons I believe a franchise fee pays for itself (and does so many times over), one would be the support system and expertise the franchisor brings to the table.  They are your team for your hike. 

Oh, and in case you are wondering, we got ice cream afterwards!

If you have interest in opening up your own Monkey Bizness, contact us now by filling out our form on our website at monkeybiznessfranchising.com to set up a call with us to learn more about opportunities in your area.  Don’t let someone else take your chance to start and grow a business that gives you the flexibility to spend time with the most important people in your life.  Contact us now!

When starting a business, there is an equilibrium that must be struck between what I call the three R’s – risk, reward, and requirements. 

I talk with a lot of owners who will use a term such as “I just want to make 25% on my investment” while also asking the question “How much do I actually have to work in my business?”.  Here is the thing – if there as a risk-free investment that paid 25% that you didn’t need to do anything for, everyone would do it.

You can argue that the stock market pays on average 7% every year.  Most of us are mere participants in the stock market –I am not doing much personally to drive my Apple stock higher each day.  I am making 7% for doing relatively little.  However, my entire investment is at risk.  Between October 2007 and March 2009, the Dow Jones lost 56% of its’ value.  My entire investment was at risk. 

However, for the most part, the stock market is a relatively safe investment that over time, will equal out to 7% returns.  On the other hand, some would argue that starting a small business is a much riskier investment. As risk increase, the potential reward should increase as well.   In the stock market, there is relatively little risk that my investment will every be worth zero (an if mine is, everyone else’s probably is as well).  However, as a business owner, there is a much greater chance that my investment will be worth zero.  As such, I should be compensated for taking an additional risk. 

How much extra should I be compensated?

That is a tough question and one that is personal to everyone.  Some people may be OK just being compensated marginally more.  Others, however, will want to be compensated significantly more. 

Up to this point, we have discussed reward and risk.  However, we now must turn to the requirement.  The requirement in this equation is how much are you going to be involved in the business? I would argue, for a purely passive investment (one that you don’t participate much in), your potential reward will be much lower.

When Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook, he eventually goes to the point where he needed additional funding.  Mr. Zuckerberg himself had invested a significant amount of time but relatively little money.  As most people do, Mr. Zuckerberg sought outside investment.  As we sit here today, everyone in this equation is probably happy with how it turned out.  However, Mr. Zuckerberg is the one who came out with the greatest value, in part because he was not a passive bystander. 

If you are looking to start a business or franchise that you won’t be personally involved in, your potential reward will not be as high in most cases.  This is acceptable….I am not saying that if you start a business you must be involved in it.  There are many cases where franchises, in particular, are started with the owner hiring a local manager to run the location.  However, in this instance, one must accurately weigh this into their potential reward. 

There are other factors that weigh into how one should measure risk and reward. For instance, are you making a lifestyle decision when opening your business?  While this may seem like a funny thing to consider, if you are starting a business that will give you personal fulfillment, you might be willing to accept less of a return. 

At Monkey Bizness, we believe that our concept can be run with different levels of “requirement”.  However, just as we described above, the level of “requirement” you are willing to commit will directly affect the level of reward that you should expect.

If you are interested in talking to us about becoming a Monkey Bizness owner, please reach out to us. 

Offering both the flexibility and independence of being a small business owner, plus the support and infrastructure of a larger corporation, a franchise can be the ideal opportunity for anyone interested in becoming an entrepreneur. However, while many articles will breeze through some of the positives and negatives of owning a franchise, few take the time to actually detail out thoughts and research behind the points they raise. 

The goal of this is to help you see the positives of opening a small business through a franchisor. We’ll share some stories, statistics, and antidotes detailing why we think franchising is the right path for many inspiring entrepreneurs. 

Here we go…the final of seven reasons why franchising may be the right path for you to open your business.

Franchising and the Risk Equation – What is the right amount of risk?

Most likely you know the story of Mark Zuckerberg and his path to building one of the most successful companies in the world, Facebook.  While others before him had similar ideas, no one was able to execute and market the social platform quite like him.  As a result, he’s a billionaire many times over.  In 2011, Mr. Zuckerberg and Facebook were ready to launch a new platform that would offer deals to its billions of users.  Off of the success at the time of Groupon and Living Social, Facebook was ready to quickly be the largest player in the marketplace given it already had access to billions of users.  Facebook Deals was launched with much fanfare in April 2011.  Along with Facebook Deals, the company was dipping its toe into its own virtual currency.  While the currency was a few years old, Facebook Deals was the vehicle that it would take off with. 

Marshall Kirkpatrick of Tech Crunch described how Facebook’s massive user base, demographic information and location check-in could make “roadkill” out of Groupon and LivingSocial. “Groupon and Living Social offer nothing but deals,” Kirkpatrick wrote. “Facebook puts deals in between pictures of your sister’s baby. Which do you think you’ll click through more often, all other things being equal?”

Facebook Deals was shut down 4 months after launch.

While visionaries like Zuckerberg often reap the rewards of what they create, they also bear the risks.  For every Zuckerberg, there are literally hundreds (or thousands) of others that have failed in their attempt to bring something “groundbreaking” to the marketplace.  At the end of the day as a potential business owner, you are already willing to accept some risk.  Your risk tolerance is already much higher than that of the average person. 

The question then becomes “How much risk are you willing to accept?”. 

Real quick, let’s talk at a core level about what a franchise really is.  A franchise, in theory, is a business that has been successful that is trying to duplicate its business by selling the concept to another person.  In order for a business to be a successful franchise candidate, there should be a record of success.  There are exceptions….for instance, I always wonder about the franchisor that is trying to franchise a concept they have never tried themselves. 

While starting a business is a risky venture no matter the path you choose, by starting a business that has already succeeded elsewhere should give you the comfort that the concept has already been proven.  The branded has been vetted.  The marketing has worked.  While much of the success of the business will be determined on your execution of the plan, you know that the plan has worked elsewhere. 

In football, most teams have the “bread and butter” play.  When they are driving for the game-winning touchdown, they often call some variation of this play because it has worked before.  In essence, with a franchise, you are getting a model that has already worked.  Just like the football play, there is no guarantee that the model will work again, however, there is a track record of success.  This track record of success limits your risk.

What it Comes Down To

The decision is a very personal one.  No matter which you route you decide, the business will ultimately be yours.  Hopefully, this has given you a little more insight into the decision then you had before.

Below are links to each article in the entire series of 7 Reasons to Franchise.

• #1 The Franchisor is your Business “Partner”   
• #2 Experience of a Franchisor Translates into Dollars
• #3 Most Franchisors Offer the Expertise of a Professional Business Team
• #4 Franchisors Aren’t Selling a Job, Their Selling You a Business
• #5 Franchising Offers Flexibility
• #6 Franchising Can Help Financing Your Business
• #7 Franchising and the Risk Equation – What is the right amount of risk?

If you are interested in discussing franchising or oppurtunities with Monkey Bizness, please reach out to us. 

Offering both the flexibility and independence of being a small business owner, plus the support and infrastructure of a larger corporation, a franchise can be the ideal opportunity for anyone interested in becoming an entrepreneur. However, while many articles will breeze through some of the positives and negatives of owning a franchise, few take the time to actually detail out thoughts and research behind the points they raise. 

The goal of this is to help you see the positives of opening a small business through a franchisor. We’ll share some stories, statistics, and antidotes detailing why we think franchising is the right path for many inspiring entrepreneurs. 

Here we go…the sixth of seven reasons why franchising may be the right path for you to open your business.

Franchising Can Help Financing Your Business

Unfortunately, banks are notoriously reluctant to lend to small businesses – according to a recent survey by On-Deck of over 10,000 business loan applicants in the U.S., 82% were denied financing by their bank. Loaning to small businesses, especially startups, is a risky proposition for banks which is why most make it so incredibly difficult.  In addition, lending to larger corporations is just plain more profitable for most banks which is why they direct most of their attention to them.

The days of walking into a bank with your business plan to secure a loan to start your business are almost a thing of the past.  The unfortunate truth for most business owners today is that securing financing is harder than it has ever been before.  Banks have a strong bias towards lending to larger corporations and businesses with a proven track record and require less underwriting than those that are starting something completely fresh.  While this isn’t altogether new, it has been magnified more and more since 2008 and 2009. 

Opening most businesses require a significant capital investment.  Most people do not have access to 100% of the funds that are needed to start their new endeavor.  While there are many ways to finance a business, most new businesses utilize the Small Business Administration loan program.  While this article won’t go into details about that program, it’s safe to say that most reputable franchisors have a detailed understanding of the SBA Programs and can help you navigate through them.  In many cases, franchisors have SBA Brokers (similar to a mortgage broker) that will help you with the financing of your business.

As a former Certified Public Accountant, I have helped many businesses put together projected financial statements for the purposes of trying to get funding.  The fact of the matter is, what banks are traditionally asking for to finance a business, most potential business owners are lost in trying to provide.  Most business owners are passionate about the business they are getting ready to start and are very familiar with how to service their customers.  In my history, however, I have not seen many owners that are familiar with how to provide the bank projected financial statements in the manner they are requesting them. While a franchisor is legally not allowed to put together your projected financial statements, they can aid in many ways. 

Securing funding for your business is one of the most stressful and least fun processes the business owners will go through.  That stress is compounded by the fact that the vast majority of potential start-up owners have never gone through the process before.  While many people buy more than 1 house or car and are familiar with those lending processes, most will not start or buy more than one business.  This leads to stress and intimidation for most because of the lack of knowledge surrounding the process. While going with a franchisor is not a sure thing to obtain funding, between their expertise and the history of their business, you are much more likely to be able to secure funding for your potential business. 

What it Comes Down To

The decision is a very personal one.  No matter which you route you decide, the business will ultimately be yours.  Hopefully, this has given you a little more insight into the decision then you had before.

Below are links to each article in the entire series of 7 Reasons to Franchise.

• #1 The Franchisor is your Business “Partner”   
• #2 Experience of a Franchisor Translates into Dollars
• #3 Most Franchisors Offer the Expertise of a Professional Business Team
• #4 Franchisors Aren’t Selling a Job, Their Selling You a Business
• #5 Franchising Offers Flexibility
• #6 Franchising Can Help Financing Your Business
• #7 Franchising and the Risk Equation – What is the right amount of risk?

If you are interested in discussing franchising or oppurtunities with Monkey Bizness, please reach out to us. 

Offering both the flexibility and independence of being a small business owner, plus the support and infrastructure of a larger corporation, a franchise can be the ideal opportunity for anyone interested in becoming an entrepreneur. However, while many articles will breeze through some of the positives and negatives of owning a franchise, few take the time to actually detail out thoughts and research behind the points they raise.

The goal of this is to help you see the positives of opening a small business through a franchisor. We’ll share some stories, statistics, and antidotes detailing why we think franchising is the right path for many inspiring entrepreneurs.

Here we go…the fifth of seven reasons why franchising may be the right path for you to open your business.

Franchising Offers Flexibility

When I first began my career the big buzz phrase was “work/life balance”.  I think they since updated the phrase, but for me, it remains the same.  The problem was, everyone had their own definition of what this meant.  For a kid fresh out of college, to me, it meant how can I get home as soon as possible!

What I have come to learn over time is that work/life balance is not a definition of strictly time.  If someone says they need 6 hours at home each night to achieve their work/life balance they are somewhat clueless about the concept.  Work/life balance is the equilibrium between the effort required to be satisfied with both your professional and personal lives.  For some people, they require less time to achieve satisfaction professionally than others and likewise at home.  To each their own….there is no standard right answer for everyone to this equation. 

The bigger problem is how to achieve this.  While going to work every day helps satisfy one side of the equation, you are most likely working for someone that is more concerned with the bottom line then your work/life balance.  In their eyes, they are more concerned with achieving the best result for the business rather then if you are succeeding professionally or personally.  According to Gallup, only 34% are happy at work.  We don’t know how many of this percentage is also happy at home but at best, we can say two-thirds of people out there aren’t happy with their balance.  At worst, and more likely, it is a much higher percentage of people that aren’t happy either professionally or personally.  

This is where flexibility becomes the key. When it comes to achieving happiness either personally or professionally (ideally both), before one can even start, they must have flexibility.  According to a Deloitte survey, 84% of millennials say that some degree of flexible working conditions is extremely important to them.  This should come as no surprise since this generation is the first that has been fully raised in this new work/life balance world we now live in.  However, that same survey found that only 39% were given this flexibility in their current position.

Some people are surprised when I tell them I took 4 weeks of vacation last year as a business owner.  Their surprise turns into outright shock when I mention that I am home most days to meet my son walking home from school or coach both of my sons’ flag football teams.  Everything out there says that business owners don’t have this sort of flexibility.  Everything you read conditions business owners to feel guilty if they are not working 80+ hours a week on their business.  While the premise of much of what the media and others put out there regarding dedication to your business is true,  the methods should be seriously questioned. 

Owning your own business gives you the flexibility that you need to balance your professional and personal lives.  I love being a business owner and it continues to fulfill my professional aspirations.  Each day brings new challenges, some of which quite frankly aren’t that much fun.  However, I get to make the decisions and  I am in direct control of my own fate.  Working with a franchise provides even more flexibility because of the assistance and support they provide.  A franchisee doesn’t need to shoulder all of the marketing or technology burdens.  Rather, the franchisor shares in that responsibility. 

What it Comes Down To

The decision is a very personal one.  No matter which you route you decide, the business will ultimately be yours.  Hopefully, this has given you a little more insight into the decision then you had before.

Below are links to each article in the entire series of 7 Reasons to Franchise.

• #1 The Franchisor is your Business “Partner”   
• #2 Experience of a Franchisor Translates into Dollars
• #3 Most Franchisors Offer the Expertise of a Professional Business Team
• #4 Franchisors Aren’t Selling a Job, Their Selling You a Business
• #5 Franchising Offers Flexibility
• #6 Franchising Can Help Financing Your Business
• #7 Franchising and the Risk Equation – What is the right amount of risk?

If you are interested in discussing franchising or oppurtunities with Monkey Bizness, please reach out to us. 

Offering both the flexibility and independence of being a small business owner, plus the support and infrastructure of a larger corporation, a franchise can be the ideal opportunity for anyone interested in becoming an entrepreneur. However, while many articles will breeze through some of the positives and negatives of owning a franchise, few take the time to actually detail out thoughts and research behind the points they raise.

The goal of this is to help you see the positives of opening a small business through a franchisor. We’ll share some stories, statistics, and antidotes detailing why we think franchising is the right path for many inspiring entrepreneurs.

Here we go…the fourth of seven reasons why franchising may be the right path for you to open your business.

Franchisors Aren’t Selling a Job, Their Selling You a Business

Before purchasing Monkey Bizness, I was introduced to a coffee house franchise that was actively looking to expand into the Denver market.  I was intrigued because I could potentially be owning and operating 3-4 stores within a couple of years.  As I was talking to them, a stereotype I had in my mind regarding franchises kept playing over and over in my mind…….I want to operate my business as I see fit, not with all of these rules and regulations.

Franchising at times can seem like you are operating your business with someone else’s rules.  To an extent this is true.  Part of a franchisors responsibility to all of their franchisees is to protect the brand they are all using.  If one rogue franchisee starts to offer a crazy new product or a promotion, it reflects on the rest of the brand and franchisees.  As a result, there are rules in place to make sure that no individual franchisee will hurt the rest of the group.  While this should comfort most, it also probably drive the more independent of us crazy.

I hope to be the owner of Monkey Bizness for a long time, but I know there will be a point where I move on.  The entrepreneurial spirit in me will always want to own a business and the odds are the next one will be a franchised business.  Yes, the stereotype that I used to have is completely gone. 

As a franchisee you have the ability (in most systems) to set your price, hire and fire employees, set their pay rates, train employees, execute marketing plans, determine how you want to market your business, work with other local organizations and businesses, and so much more. 

As a franchisee, most the rules you are “stuck” following are ones you tend not to care about in the first place.  For instance, most franchisors will provide you with materials to help train your employees.  I don’t know about you, but I didn’t get into my business because I wanted to create materials to train employees.

You are also provided with rules you must follow that “create that magic”.  For instance, if you are starting a restaurant, they will give you details on how you must prepare the food so that it tastes consistent across the brand.  If you don’t like the restaurant’s food in the first place, I wouldn’t open that store.  

The simple fact is that most franchisees provide the systems that you don’t necessarily want to deal with in the first place.  They also provide support such as marketing that will give you a leg up on the local competition in the first place.  As a franchisee you are free to do what you wanted to when you started out with the venture…..serve your customers with the highest level of service. 

What it Comes Down To

The decision is a very personal one.  No matter which you route you decide, the business will ultimately be yours.  Hopefully, this has given you a little more insight into the decision then you had before.

Below are links to each article in the entire series of 7 Reasons to Franchise.

• #1 The Franchisor is your Business “Partner”   
• #2 Experience of a Franchisor Translates into Dollars
• #3 Most Franchisors Offer the Expertise of a Professional Business Team
• #4 Franchisors Aren’t Selling a Job, Their Selling You a Business
• #5 Franchising Offers Flexibility
• #6 Franchising Can Help Financing Your Business
• #7 Franchising and the Risk Equation – What is the right amount of risk?

If you are interested in discussing franchising or oppurtunities with Monkey Bizness, please reach out to us. 

Offering both the flexibility and independence of being a small business owner, plus the support and infrastructure of a larger corporation, a franchise can be the ideal opportunity for anyone interested in becoming an entrepreneur. However, while many articles will breeze through some of the positives and negatives of owning a franchise, few take the time to actually detail out thoughts and research behind the points they raise.

The goal of this is to help you see the positives of opening a small business through a franchisor. We’ll share some stories, statistics, and antidotes detailing why we think franchising is the right path for many inspiring entrepreneurs.

Here we go…the third of seven reasons why franchising may be the right path for you to open your business.

Most Franchisors Offer the Expertise of a Professional Business Team

According to Visualcapitalist.com, 23% of businesses that fail, do so because they don’t have the right team in place.  Imagine as you contemplate opening a business, a genie appears and says they can increase your odds of success over the first 5 years of your business by 20%.  What would that be worth to you?  Just think of all the time, effort, and money you have put into your business and this genie has now offered you the chance to increase your odds of survival by 20%!

In a separate report by Salesforce.com, 66% of small business owners are personally responsible for three or more of the following areas of their business: operations, finance, sales, marketing, human resources, customer service, product development, or IT.  Think of your current job and how many of those functional areas your current job duties covers.  Odds are, probably not three of them. That means many business owners are taking full ownership for functional areas they have little to no experience in.  While that might be OK for one area, taking on 3 or more certainly feels like a recipe for failure. 

One advantage many franchisors bring to new business owners is an experienced team that is well versed in a functional area that the franchisee may not be well versed in.   Not every area is equal in a business.  In my business, marketing is much more important than product development.  As such, we hired a marketing team. 

Speaking of marketing, many business owners don’t particularly like doing marketing or have a lot of experience with it. The InfusionSoft 2018 “Small Business Marketing Report”, found that the owners who do their marketing themselves are the least satisfied with their results. The most satisfied? The owners who outsource their marketing.  Yet, 70.8% of small businesses do their own marketing. 

Most franchisors have full teams dedicated to marketing.  Many have other individuals dedicated to operations, technology, and other functional areas.  These are professionals who have years of career experience in their functional area. 

You should think of your franchisor as part of your professional business team.  They won’t cover all the functional areas that you need covered (you will probably need a bookkeeper for instance), but they should cover the more important areas such as marketing.  This allows you to concentrate on the areas you are most confident in and can do best.

What it Comes Down To

The decision is a very personal one.  No matter which you route you decide, the business will ultimately be yours.  Hopefully, this has given you a little more insight into the decision then you had before.

Below are links to each article in the entire series of 7 Reasons to Franchise.

• #1 The Franchisor is your Business “Partner”   
• #2 Experience of a Franchisor Translates into Dollars
• #3 Most Franchisors Offer the Expertise of a Professional Business Team
• #4 Franchisors Aren’t Selling a Job, Their Selling You a Business
• #5 Franchising Offers Flexibility
• #6 Franchising Can Help Financing Your Business
• #7 Franchising and the Risk Equation – What is the right amount of risk?

If you are interested in discussing franchising or oppurtunities with Monkey Bizness, please reach out to us. 

Offering both the flexibility and independence of being a small business owner, plus the support and infrastructure of a larger corporation, a franchise can be the ideal opportunity for anyone interested in becoming an entrepreneur. However, while many articles will breeze through some of the positives and negatives of owning a franchise, few take the time to actually detail out thoughts and research behind the points they raise.

The goal of this is to help you see the positives of opening a small business through a franchisor. We’ll share some stories, statistics, and antidotes detailing why we think franchising is the right path for many inspiring entrepreneurs.

Here we go…the second of seven reasons why franchising may be the right path for you to open your business.

Experience of a Franchisor Translates into Dollars

There are many benefits of operating a business in the Denver area but one has never been that it is easy to get a project approved with the city.  The city of Denver and all of its’ suburbs are well known for tying construction projects, even the smallest ones, up for weeks if not months.  We recently opened a store outside of Denver.  While touring the potential site with a contractor, our project manager asked on a whim if we needed to get full architectural drawings for approval for the city.  After all, we weren’t doing much other than taking down a few walls and moving some electrical around.  The contractor shocked us when they told us all they would need was a layout.  That simple question saved us $10,000. 

There are a lot of questions like that when starting and operating a business.  While franchisors can sometimes get questions about their initial franchise fee, its stories like this that begin to articulate the value that such a fee encompasses.

There are literally hundreds of questions that translate into real dollars for new business owners.  Without a franchise, a new business owner is left to guess those answers.  Should you advertise in the local paper?  What type of flooring should you install?  Do you need that piece of equipment?  How many staff do you need to operate your business?  These are all questions that have a dollar amount attached to them.  They are also all questions a franchisor should be able to quickly answer. 

Franchisors have a wealth of knowledge to share.  The best ones have very specific equipment and marketing plans they share with you.  Their training is full of operational best practices regarding hiring, staffing, and the day to day running of your business.  These are all from lessons learned (some hard ones) and experiences by their franchisees. 

In addition to the savings most franchisees get from start-up and operational efficiencies, most franchisors have also assumed many expenses that you as a new business owner won’t have to undertake.  Most have already registered their trademark, paid for a logo design, developed a website, designed marketing materials, established a supply chain, and negotiated discounts with suppliers.  These are thousands of dollars of expenses that you will not incur in addition to the time you save by not having to do any of this yourself.  So while your startup costs may be increased by the franchise fee, odds are they’ll often be much lower overall.

The best franchisors are extremely vested in your success.  Your wins are their wins….your losses are their losses.  As a result, the best franchisors have learned from their lessons and perfected their business so they can pass it on to others.  These lessons have all had a monetary value attached to them.  As a result, when they speak they do so often with the bottom line in mind.    

What it Comes Down To

The decision is a very personal one.  No matter which you route you decide, the business will ultimately be yours.  Hopefully, this has given you a little more insight into the decision then you had before.

Below are links to each article in the entire series of 7 Reasons to Franchise.

• #1 The Franchisor is your Business “Partner”   
• #2 Experience of a Franchisor Translates into Dollars
• #3 Most Franchisors Offer the Expertise of a Professional Business Team
• #4 Franchisors Aren’t Selling a Job, Their Selling You a Business
• #5 Franchising Offers Flexibility
• #6 Franchising Can Help Financing Your Business
• #7 Franchising and the Risk Equation – What is the right amount of risk?

If you are interested in discussing franchising or oppurtunities with Monkey Bizness, please reach out to us. 

Offering both the flexibility and independence of being a small business owner, plus the support and infrastructure of a larger corporation, a franchise can be the ideal opportunity for anyone interested in becoming an entrepreneur. However, while many articles will breeze through some of the positives and negatives of owning a franchise, few take the time to actually detail out thoughts and research behind the points they raise.

The goal of this is to help you see the positives of opening a small business through a franchisor. We’ll share some stories, statistics, and antidotes detailing why we think franchising is the right path for many inspiring entrepreneurs.

Here we go…the first of seven reasons why franchising may be the right path for you to open your business.

The Franchisor is your Business “Partner”

What’s stopping you from starting your own business? When people get asked that question, they often respond that they are scared of failure. That might not be the exact answer, but that is what it boils down to.

Years before I purchased Monkey Bizness, I wanted to start my own accounting firm.  Being a Certified Public Accountant and dreaming of owning my own business, this seemed like a logical step.  However, there was something always holding me back.  While it was always something different depending on the day, I was scared.  In order to spread my risk and gain some confidence, I sought out a partner to begin my endeavor with.  Finding a partner helped ease my fears by giving me someone who shared responsibilities and that I could rely on to help grow the business. 

For many reasons, I never went forward with my accounting firm endeavor.  But the process did teach me about the value of having a partner.  When you find the right franchise, one of the biggest benefits you get is having a partner to help you start and grow your business. 

I have a secret for you…..we have all failed at different times in life.  Failure doesn’t make you a bad person or a “loser”.  Quite the contrary.  Failure makes you smarter for the experience and helps shape you for success down the road. 

Because of this fear, most never even try to play the game.  Imagine never if Babe Ruth had never played baseball because he was scared of striking out.  Imagine if Picasso never painted because he was scared of what others might think of his work.  Henry David Thoreau had a great quote – “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them”.

Monkey Bizness is no stranger to failure.  Prior to taking over, our system had to close stores.  We learned from that.  The lessons we learned have made our other stores all the more successful and will make future stores even more successful. 

A 2018 Gallup Poll noted that employee engagement was the highest its been in the history of the poll…it was at a whopping 34%.  While that is great that it is so “high”, that means that 66% or 83 million Americans don’t like their jobs.  Really think of that….when you sit down today at work, between you and the people sitting on either side of you, two of you hate your job.  Are you one of them?  What is a bigger failure, going to work every day and hating your job or not attempting your dream?

Business owners learn to redefine their success.  Is security your definition of success?  Do you often go to retirement parties where the honoree says “I accomplished my life goal, I was secure the past 40 years”?  While you probably haven’t heard that at a retirement party, you probably also haven’t heard “I accomplished my life goals of chasing my dreams and forging my own path”.  It’s sad, but most are too afraid to get to that point. 

With a solid franchisor, you get a lot of benefits.  You get a business plan, help with the financing and marketing, the benefit of lessons learned…. but most importantly, you get a partner in your endeavor.  You get someone that helps you chase your dreams while allowing you to build your success story. 

What it Comes Down To

The decision is a very personal one.  No matter which you route you decide, the business will ultimately be yours.  Hopefully, this has given you a little more insight into the decision then you had before.

Below are links to each article in the entire series of 7 Reasons to Franchise.

• #1 The Franchisor is your Business “Partner”   
• #2 Experience of a Franchisor Translates into Dollars
• #3 Most Franchisors Offer the Expertise of a Professional Business Team
• #4 Franchisors Aren’t Selling a Job, Their Selling You a Business
• #5 Franchising Offers Flexibility
• #6 Franchising Can Help Financing Your Business
• #7 Franchising and the Risk Equation – What is the right amount of risk?

If you are interested in discussing franchising or oppurtunities with Monkey Bizness, please reach out to us. 

“Behind the success of every small business, there is a family”

Family businesses are extraordinary.  In a time where the popular media and press push the next big thing, family businesses often don’t get discussed.  But the statistics don’t lie and they are eye popping…….78% of new job creation comes from family businesses…..over 50% of U.S. GDP is generated from family business…..90% of U.S. businesses are family-owned or controlled by a family.

We talk with plenty of aspiring entrepreneurs and many of them talking about wanting to start a business their whole family will be proud of and can participate in.  I get that because I was in a similar situation 5 years ago.  For many reasons, I was at that point in my life that I went from passively searching for a business to setting up meetings with bankers, lawyers, and business brokers to actively search for a business.  As part of this process, I came up with criteria for the business that I wanted to buy.  Recently, I looked back an email I sent to my dad and here were the top three criteria:

1. A business that is flexible with family/work time
2. A business that my wife and kids can all enjoy ownership in
3. A business that has the opportunity to grow greater than it currently is

Those aren’t the entire criteria (hint: #4 was purely financial), but you can see how the first three criteria were directly driven by my family.  To be very honest, I would not own Monkey Bizness today if it weren’t for my three kids. 

When I first reached out to the former owners of Monkey Bizness to see if they would be interested in selling, my wife and I decided that we would keep this mostly secret for a while.  As things progressed, I let a few close friends in on what was happening.  When we finally signed a purchased agreement, I let a few more people in.  It wasn’t until all the T’s were crossed I’s were dotted that we told our kids.  And when we did, it was an awesome experience. 

Three years later my entire family is still proud owners of Monkey Bizness.  My oldest child who was 8 at the time is now 11 and asks when he can go to work for one of our stores.  My 7-year-old asks me when he will be the owner of Monkey Bizness.  Not to be outdone, my 4-year-old recently asked that since we own Monkey Bizness, could she have a birthday party every weekend. 

In all seriousness, my wife is my business partner in the venture.  Prior to buying Monkey Bizness, we would have sessions where we would talk about all of the things we wanted to do.  Every couple of months we still sit down over a glass of wine and discuss the business in depth.  Because she is somewhat removed (she is a 3^rd grade teacher), she can sometimes see the bigger picture and has great ideas to grow the business. 

Monkey Bizness has also provided the personal flexibility that I have always wanted.  While no business owner will tell you that they don’t work hard, business ownership does provide a weird flexibility in and owner’s schedule.  I coach both of my son’s flag football teams and haven’t missed a parent teacher conference in 3 years.  My 11-year-old walks home from school because I am working at home most afternoons. 

As a parent, no situation is perfect.  There is not a situation out there that will pay you enough money, give you enough flexibility, and provide the career growth you are exactly looking for.  Trust me…I have looked.  However, Monkey Bizness for my family has been as close to perfect as possible.  While it is not without stress, the pride owning a family business has given my entire family has been worth it many times over. 

If you are interested in learning more about owning your own Monkey Bizness, please contact us now.