In the same theme of my recent articles, classifying franchisers by type, this month’s article will cover the sole proprietorship type franchises, also known as individual contributor. This is not to be confused with buying yourself a job as I will explain later.
If you follow the Gerber philosophy as immortalized in the book The E-Myth Revisited – Why Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It, you will know that a business should resonate with your primary purpose for being. In other words, work on your business to achieve your financial and personal goals and needs.
A sole proprietor franchise (don’t confuse with legal definition of corporate structure) is when the franchisee chooses a business with the following attributes: low investment; work from home or small office; no employees; maximum control over their time; no inventory and few receivables. These are usually consultative businesses where the franchisee is offering to sell some expertise developed in a proven franchise formula.
Here are some examples of sole proprietorship type franchises: marketing and advertising services to small businesses, operations consulting targeted at expense reduction, financial services such as factoring and personnel recruiting in various industries. Also included in this category is my business, The Entrepreneur’s Source, which is a consulting franchise.
Read on…
