The start of a new year is a perfect opportunity to reflect on the past and set your sights on the future. The new year can make us itchy for a fresh start!

If you’re considering a career change, taking charge of your own destiny through business ownership might be the way to go. According to this prominent Linkedin article, one of the main reasons employees switch jobs is because they believe there is a lack of career advancement in their current role. However, when you run your own business, they sky’s the limit for your career growth!

Before you dive headfirst into business ownership, there are a few important steps to take to make sure you’re prepared:

• Reflect – Have a think about why you want to make the change, and what you want to get out of becoming your own boss. You could consider working with a career coach or advisor to help you reflect and unearth the transferable skills that you could take into business ownership.
• Articulate your ‘why’ – Understand the driving force behind your desire to start your own business and why it’s crucial for your career.
• Network – Connect with individuals who can assist you in your journey. Building valuable networks early on is essential. Join industry associations and follow their content.
• Research – Plan for your career change by reading business start up guides or researching trends in the industry that you’re moving into. This may uncover some key skills that you need to work on before getting started, or identify if it’s an industry in growth and a good idea to jump into.
• Plan – Develop a business plan that highlights what makes your business unique. Assess your skills to build a unique selling proposition (USP) that showcases your strengths. You can achieve this by documenting the skills you’ve gained so far in your career, emphasising transferable skills, seeking feedback from colleagues, friends, family, or even using a third party skills assessment tool such as the Gallup Survey to get a perspective that you may not have had before, or some helpful language with which to speak about your strengths.

Franchising is ideal for those who want to invest in a new venture but don’t want to manage the associated risks of starting a business or have no idea where or how to start. Franchising is a great way to take the wheel when it comes to directing your own career path. The beauty of a franchise is that you’re investing in a tried and tested business model but get to enjoy the upsides of business ownership yourself.

If your dream is to own your own recruitment agency you’d typically have to handle a lot of tasks aside from recruitment including finance, IT, legal, payroll and marketing, which can be very overwhelming. The advantage of starting your recruitment business in partnership with Workforce Extensions is that they manage the back-office work, allowing you to focus on building your network and finding clients and candidates.

Here are some reasons why franchising might be the way to go for your new venture:

• Scale at your pace – You get to decide how quickly to grow your business.
• Support – When you join a franchise network, you’re not alone. You become part of a network with fellow franchisees and gain guidance from the franchisor.
• Knowledge – Starting a franchise office takes away a lot of the unknowns of starting a new business from scratch.
• Brand – Franchising offers the advantage of working with an established brand, meaning there is no need to create a brand identity from scratch.
• Marketing – When you invest in a franchise, you receive valuable marketing tools such as a website, local marketing support and marketing materials to promote your franchise.
• Reduce risk – Investing in a franchise reduces the risks involved since you’re adopting a proven business model.
• New skills – Franchising provides an excellent opportunity to learn and develop new skills. The franchisor may offer training in various skill areas or provide recommendations to improve.
• Enhance the community – Starting a franchise office in your local community contributes to its economic growth and supports local services.
• Higher odds of success – Stats show that the success rate with franchises is three times higher than starting a business independently.

Finding your ideal career can go a long way to helping you live a happy and fulfilling life. Since we invest a considerable portion of our lives at work, it’s worth the effort to pursue something you’re truly passionate about!

To start your year strong and find out about starting a franchise with Workforce Extensions, we would love to hear from you. Contact us now.