Franchise Small Business with Sara Waskow.
Franchise Small Business with Sara Waskow, owner of FranNet DFW, and a Franchise Specialist in the Dallas/Ft Worth market.
Sara has over 18 years of consultative and sales experience working with small business owners. After receiving many awards and accolades in corporate America, she took her skills to the franchise industry.
Sara’s experience and talent uniquely qualify her to help you find the right business to allow you to achieve your dream of business ownership. She will work with you step-by-step to find the franchise opportunity that is right for you.
Sara is a native Texan and a graduate of Texas A&M University. She and her husband have lived in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex for 28 years and have two children.
Franchise Small Business with Sara Waskow:
- Sara started her career in the corporate world, was a stay at home mom when her children were younger, then worked for a start-up, and eventually made her transition to becoming her own boss.
- She often works in partnership with SCORE and has conducted various workshops for that organization.
- FranNet was her first business venture, and she now owns the franchise that provides franchise consulting for the Dallas and Fort Worth markets.
- When she was working in a corporate environment, she grew tired with the disconnect between the executives and the needs of her clients in the field.
- Choosing a franchise business provided valuable support (from the franchisor), which helped with the transition from a corporate job that also provided that level of infrastructure and resources.
- Franchising allows for you to leverage an existing business model. It’s not necessarily for everyone, but Sara will help you determine if franchising is a fit for you.
- Ability to and willingness to follow a system is one of the key characteristics of successful franchise owner.
- Some franchises are much more structured than others. It does vary fairly widely.
- Your “passion” should really be about achieving business success. It’s easy to confuse a personal passion with the actual business and what it will required from the owner.
- “It’s a 5 year project at a minimum.” Sara advises that often it may take longer to build a business, even a franchise, than you may expect. You need to be committed as for the long-term.
- There is lending available for franchises, and banks typically prefer to lend to established franchises. However, a personal credit score of 670 or higher is a common requirement.
- It’s realistic that you would start with buying a franchise while still keeping your current job for a period of time. Some franchises are a fit for this scenario, and Sara can help with identifying franchises that allow for this situation.
- Having an exit strategy in mind up front is important to finding the right franchise for you. Are you considering keeping the business long-term? Do you desire to pass the business on to your children? Would you prefer to sell the business in a few years?
- Doing your research during your search for a franchise is a critical indicator of success.
- It varies, but it takes about 6 months to complete your franchise selection process.
- In addition to reading as much as possible on the topic, you should enlist an expert to help you with your search for a franchise business.
- There is no cost to you when you use a Franchise Broker. Their fee is paid by the franchise company (the franchisor).
Related Episodes:
From starting your first franchise business to launching your own franchise system, we have a podcast episode to help you. Henry Lopez, Small Business Coach and host of The How of Business podcast, has purchased, owned and sold several franchise businesses. His first small business was a pizza franchise restaurant which he purchased with his business partner in 1991. You can find all episodes about franchising on our archives page: