Dear Aunty B,
We are two women in our 50s and have teamed up to start a small business, but we don’t know what’s better. Do we buy a franchise, buy a business or look for an opportunity and start our own business?
I am an experienced business executive who has worked in large businesses for most of my life. My partner has successfully worked in small businesses.
Lorna, WA
Dear Lorna,
Look, in a nutshell, I would think about it like this: someone else’s business is for sale because it’s a dog. Now maybe that is true, maybe it isn’t. But it can be a painful lesson to find out.
Buy a franchise? Look, you guys don’t seem the type. Often franchisees don’t know a lot about running a business and they are buying in to that experience.
Also, a franchise works best when it is owned by one person who has a large, extended family that will work in one, then two, then three franchisees for love and not much money. Shocking generalisations, but there you are.
So, if I was you, I would start your own. Pick a niche that you know a lot about, make sure everything is in a growth trend, look at how technology can transform the proposition, do your plan and Bob’s your proverbial uncle.
Be smart,
Your Aunty B
Andrew Sadauskas is a former journalist at SmartCompany and a former editor of TechCompany.
