Being successful in any business endeavor requires some common elements such as hard work, adequate capital, the right team, etc.  Being successful with a franchise will require a few specific characteristics as well:

• Successful franchises are business owners who do well following directions.  Franchise systems are built on the premise that the franchisor has perfected the business model and documented the model within the operating manual and training program.  Franchisees that can follow the franchisor’s directions will be more successful than those that try to reinvent the wheel.
• Successful franchisees are marketers.  Since the franchisor has perfected the business model and daily operations the franchisee simply needs to execute the marketing plan to ensure an adequate flow of customers.  It is often said that ‘nothing starts until somebody sells something’.  This truism rings especially clear within successful franchise operations.  Franchisees do not need to concern themselves with dreaming up new operational ideas, they simply need to execute the platform that the franchisor has provided.

• Successful franchisees are operators.  Great business operators know how to trim costs by ½ percentage points and how to schedule labor within 5 minutes of the needed customer demand.  Lean business operations are critical within all small enterprises.  It can be easy for a franchisee to grow complacent and not manage their expenses.  Successful franchise operators trim costs and realize that profit is realized by the penny!