How to Overcome the Fear of Buying a Franchise Business
So, you’ve been researching franchise business models for a while, and have finally found one that suits your criteria.
You’ve secured the finances to buy the franchise, yet you’re struggling to make the final decision to proceed. In fact, you avoid or delay buying the franchise, and, instead, start coming up with a range of reasons to justify why now is not the right time to get started.
Has this ever happened to you?
Whilst there’s a whole range of reasons why you’re not making the final purchase decision, essentially it boils down to ‘fear’ and a ‘lack of courage’.
Perhaps you’re fearful of making the wrong decision, fearful of losing your money, fearful of failure, fearful of the unknown, fearful of success, or fearful of being criticised by others. Either way, it’s your fear and lack of courage that is holding you back from proceeding with a franchise purchase.
As a Business Coach, I see business owners crippled with fear regularly. This is called the ‘Knowing-Doing Gap’, where business owners know what they should be doing, but aren’t doing it because fear is holding them back.
If you’re struggling with the fear of buying a franchise business, it’s important to recognise that you’re not alone. All business owners experience some form of fear and anxiety when transitioning from the security of employment to the uncertainty of a business.
I left the security of a job in 2018 and started a Business Coaching business. This was a huge decision for me and my family, and one that was years in the making. Whilst I was filled with fear, doubt, and uncertainty, I was able to summons the courage to act because my goals were significantly more important to me than my fears.
What Motivates Us?
Before I share the steps to overcome fear, it’s important that you have a basic understanding of how humans are motivated. At the highest level, we are all motivated by one of two factors: 1. Avoidance of pain; 2. Seeking pleasure. The avoidance of pain is the highest motivator, and comes from the mind’s role to survive, by avoiding dangerous or painful situations.
Pain does not always mean physical pain, as it can also be mental pain or anguish. For example, most people are fearful of public speaking, because they fear saying the wrong thing, looking foolish, and/or being criticised or judged by others. They are not in physical danger, but they put themselves through mental anguish thinking about the worst possible outcome, and as a result, refuse to speak publicly.
When it comes to buying a franchise, you could be considering all the worst possible outcomes, creating mental pain for yourself, and, therefore, avoiding or delaying making a purchase decision.
Here are 6 steps to help you overcome fear and take action towards achieving your franchise dreams.
1) What Are You Fearful Of?
First, ascertain what are you fearful of? The most common fears are failure, criticism, uncertainty, and success. Spend some time becoming self-aware and identifying what is scaring you.
2) Why Are You Experiencing Fear?
A lot of fears were formed when you were younger, and can originate from your parents, teachers, friends, or past experiences. Consider why you’re feeling the emotion of fear? Where did it come from?
3) Start Loosening Your Fear
Fear is also known as a limiting belief, and in the middle of the word ‘belief’, is a 3-letter word: ‘lie’. Whatever your fear or limiting belief is, the truth is that you’ve made it up. It’s a lie. Loosening your fear is a process of starting to challenge your fears, or the story you’re telling yourself.
Another way to loosen your fear is to find examples of people doing what you’d like to do. In this instance, there are people across Australia and New Zealand who are making the decision to get started in a franchise business. In addition, countless people have created significant wealth and an amazing lifestyle from a franchise business. If they can, so can you!
Also, change the meaning of pain, and start considering all the wonderful things you’ll miss out on by not buying a franchise. This is known as an opportunity cost.
4) Create A New Empowering Belief
Henry Ford famously said, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.”
Instead of having a fear of failure, start thinking the opposite, which is a love of success.
Rather than focusing on what you don’t want, start imagining what you actually want. What you want, is to get started and create an outstanding franchise business.
5) Create Evidence of Success
This step is about remembering a time in your life when you were fearful of something, but you did it anyway. What did you do? Why did you decide to act? How did you feel after you accomplished the task you feared? Now it’s a matter of applying that same type of thinking to your current franchise purchase, and recognising that you overcame fear before, therefore you can overcome fear now.
Another way to create evidence of success is to speak with other successful franchisees. How did they overcome the fear to get started? What led them to making a franchise purchase decision?
6) Remember Your Why and Your What
Constantly remind yourself of why you want to buy a franchise business. What are your reasons? What will make you happy?
Also, reflect on your goals. The idea is to create goals so big and important that they overpower any fear that you may have. When your goals are big enough and they mean so much to you, then you will do what you can to accomplish these.
In summary, anytime you do something new, accept that it will be uncertain and filled with fear. It’s normal to experience fear when considering leaving the certainty of employment, to get started in your own business. Some of the reasons buying a franchise is so popular is because of the systems, training, support, and marketing that you receive. Whilst you’ll still experience a level of uncertainty, buying a franchise provides you with additional value that an independent business can’t provide.
If you’ve been considering buying a franchise business for a while but haven’t been able to make that final purchase decision, put into practice these 6 steps, and lean into the fear that’s holding you back. Your future self, as a successful franchisee, will thank you for it.
Ensure you find the right business coach today, by contacting the team at Tony Meredith Coaching. Specialists in individual business coaching, group business coaching and online business coaching.
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Bio of Tony Meredith
Tony Meredith, Director and Head Coach at Tony Meredith Coaching, has over 25 years’ experience working for some of the world’s largest corporations in a variety of senior sales and leadership roles.
Tony Meredith Coaching started in 2018 and works with hundreds of small-medium businesses across Australia, in the areas of Franchising, Retail, Services, Manufacturing, and Property. Tony Meredith Coaching focuses on helping business owners Grow Sales, Increase Profits, and Regain Time.
