Is Owning a Franchise Stressful? 10 Stress-Busting Tips for Franchises

Investing in a franchise is a great way to start a business, because you’re going to be opening with the benefit of an established brand name and established business techniques. This makes it a lot easier than just starting your own new business, where you would have to build up a new brand reputation and slowly find your footing when it comes to business tactics.

With that being said, owning a franchise can still be stressful. Just because the brand establishment work has been done for you, it still requires a lot of effort and hard work to successfully keep the franchise running. On top of that, you’ve got the pressure of living up to the franchise as a whole and making sure that you don’t spoil their reputation.

So how can you keep on top of things and minimize the stress of owning a franchise? We’ve got the answers for you! In our handy guide below, we’ve got 10 stress-busting tips for franchises. Follow these and you’ll be able to run your franchise a lot more smoothly and without stress!

10 Stress-Busting Tips for Franchises

1. Follow What The Franchisor Says

When you own a franchise, you’re still going to be under the command of the franchise that has given you permission to run one of their franchises.

As a result, you need to follow what they tell you, including their business model. If you don’t, then you can get in trouble and even risk being fired as the franchise owner. On top of that, the franchisor will know how things are done and what’s best for their business, because they’ve got the proven experience and success.

So why not follow them? They’ll be able to guide you to similar success and it’ll make running the business a lot less stressful for you.

2. Have a Daily Plan

Running a franchise is going to be a lot of work and there are always going to be a whole host of different aspects of the business that you need to think about.

This can be incredibly overwhelming, because you’ll feel like you’re having to juggle lots of different things: providing to customers, keeping the business going, guiding employees, thinking about the financial side, and more. It’s much better to take it one day at a time.

The best way to do this is by having a daily plan for the business, with everything you’re aiming to do broken down into clear and manageable chunks. This will help you get a clear vision of what needs to be done each day, and make owning the franchise much less stressful.

3. A Franchise Future Overview

While you should have daily plans as we’ve just mentioned, you will still want to have some idea of the future of your franchise. When you start, write down a detailed vision of what you expect the future of the franchise to be, perhaps with a few steps as to how you can achieve it.

You don’t have to constantly think about your vision, but it’s always good to have it so that you know whether the franchise is heading on the right track. Every business needs goals, and this is a good way to keep on track and stress-free.

4. Plan Your Week’s Goals

Just as it’s good to have a daily plan and a vision for your franchise’s future, planning your week with goals to achieve is a great way tip for stress-busting.

At the start of each working week, you should write down a series of goals for the franchise to meet over the next five days. They can be both big and small, but all of them should be realistic and manageable. Make sure your employees know the goals too, and you can all work towards them during the week.

It keeps things clear and organized, minimizing stress and giving you all a boost of satisfaction when you complete them.

5. Find a Franchise Consultant

A great way to minimize stress is to find the right franchisor. You want to go into business with a franchisor whose vision you align with and you aren’t going to struggle to meet their expectations. One of the best ways to find the right franchisor for you is by finding a franchise consultant, who can then help you narrow down the options to the best franchisor for you.

6. Pick a Strong Franchisor

Following on from the last point, a franchise consultant will help you find a strong franchisor that’s a perfect match for you.

If you have a strong franchisor, it should make owning a franchise much less stressful. If you have a weak franchisor, or one that isn’t suited to your way of working, you’ll find yourself wrapped up in disagreements or find yourself feeling like you’re alone in running your franchise – which are both stressful.

7. Work Without Excuses

If things start going wrong with your franchise, don’t make excuses, just focus on fixing it. When the franchise is struggling, you will undoubtedly get stressed about it. That’s not going to help anyone. Instead, look at solutions and go back to the fundamentals of the franchise. Fix what’s going wrong and return to success.

8. It’s A Long Game

Don’t always expect quick results! Running a franchise is a long game, and you’re not always going to see the results you want straight away. That doesn’t mean they’re not coming, they’re just going to take some time. The franchisor is as successful as they are because they’ve played the long game, so have some patience.

Keep working solidly and you’ll soon see the great results. Don’t stress if they’re not happening immediately – this is a marathon, not a race.

9. Find a Franchise Mentor

We can always learn more about owning a franchise, and there are always ways to improve how well we’re doing our job. One of the best ways to do this is by finding a franchise mentor. A franchise mentor is going to be somebody who owns (or owned) a franchise similar to the one you’re owning.

This means that they will have plenty of experience in what works and what doesn’t, how to minimize stress, and how to fix specific situations you might find your business in. It’s never a good idea working alone, especially at something as taxing as being a franchise owner. Getting mentorship will always lighten the load and lessen your stress.

10. Remind Yourself Of Your Goals

We’ve talked about setting goals earlier, and it’s important to constantly remind yourself of them once you do. This can be done in plenty of ways. For example, you can write them out on large posters to stick on the office wall, cover a whiteboard with them, have them set as computer reminders or screensavers, and more.

Whatever way you use, reminding yourself constantly of your goals will help you keep on track. This will make you more likely to achieve them, as well as help you feel structured, which will bust stress.

Final Thoughts

Owning a franchise can be a stressful job, but these ten tips will help minimize the stress a lot!