We’re now going to talk about some of the motivators for why people consider business ownership. You’re going to hear a lot of them, but you’ve got to figure out which ones are important to you. There might even be things that aren’t talked about today that matter to you. This is just to get your thoughts going about what’s important.

When we think about “Why business ownership?”—after working with hundreds of families—one of the things we know is that success means a lot of different things to a lot of different people, doesn’t it?

Whenever I conduct these seminars, I always tell people that these are two of the most important slides of the entire presentation. If you want to walk away with one thing from this seminar, it would be this: You need to understand what’s in it for you as a business owner. What business and personal challenges are you trying to resolve that can only be accomplished through business ownership?

You’ll have your own reasons, and it’s really important to figure out what those reasons are.

So, for consideration, here are some of the things that we see from our clients:

For some people, it’s about money—creating a predictable income. They’re willing to make a short-term sacrifice to build the business so they can have a long-term, consistent income. We’ll talk about this later.

Some of our clients want to be in full control—having the freedom and autonomy to make the decisions, take on the responsibility, and receive the benefits and rewards as a result of those decisions.

For some, it’s about job security. Past clients have bought businesses that are recession-resistant and can’t be offshored—things like hair care.

Some want to build a team so the business is not solely reliant on them. As the business matures, the owner enjoys far more lifestyle flexibility as the team takes on more responsibility.

For others, financial security isn’t just about a predictable income stream—it’s about scaling and building a multi-unit empire.

Some people want fulfillment—making a meaningful difference in their work. Examples like elder care or tutoring satisfy that desire for engagement, fulfillment, and a sense of satisfaction and purpose.

The bottom line is: there are many different motivators, and the only ones that matter are the ones that are important to you.

As you work through the process of identifying your pain and gain, some people you share that exercise with might ask, “Is that really important to you?” They might be asking because it’s not important to them. But you have to square off with this—you need to make sure it’s important to you, and you have to get really honest with yourself.

As we’ve worked with clients over the past few years, there are a few major factors that consistently show up as the primary motivators for people seeking self-employment and franchise ownership today.

The first one: they’re not comfortable with the instability of the job market. They’re uncomfortable with the decisions being made—decisions they have no say in or control over. And they want to stop the gig economy cycle.

The gig economy roles—contract roles—aren’t typically tenured. They’re gigs. They’re short-term: six months to two years. People are questioning whether they want to stay on that path for the remainder of their career. The start-stop job search cycle is exhausting. People are saying, “I want to stop this cycle of intermittence. I want control and stability, and I want to get that through business ownership.”

The second thing we hear a lot about is life balance. People aren’t necessarily looking for an easier career path—they’re saying they want more control over their daily decisions.

When we’ve worked with clients at senior executive levels in financial services, one told us, “At 5:00 p.m., my work is done. I could have left the office, but the optics wouldn’t have looked good.” The expectation was that they needed to be visible for their staff. Politics was the only reason that person stayed longer, and it was frustrating.

The third theme is: “Do I still want to keep doing what I’ve always done?” This ties into fulfillment. One telecom executive told us, “I’ve been doing the same thing for over 21 years. I don’t know if that’s what I want my legacy to be. I want something different.”

Franchising offers an opportunity to do something completely different—it doesn’t rely on specific industry skills. It leverages transferable skills. Over 80% of our clients have bought franchise businesses in industries where they had no prior experience. They relied on the franchisor’s systems, processes, coaching, and training—and were able to apply their capabilities successfully.

Business ownership from scratch, on the other hand, often requires deep industry experience. You have to create everything from the ground up.

There’s one more factor that’s important to address. While it might not apply to our younger clients, it does for people in their late 40s and 50s—and that’s retirement.

The traditional path to retirement was to work your career and then stop at 65. But the current reality in Canada is that the average male lives to age 81, and the average female to age 85. We’re living longer, and our financial resources need to sustain us through all those years.

Interestingly, what we’re hearing from clients is that retirement isn’t just about financial sustainability—it’s about intellectual engagement. Clients tell us they want the choice to stay mentally active or have as much freedom as they want while their business sustains them.

Looking at business ownership as part of a retirement strategy is something you might want to consider.

Let’s look at a few interesting trends:

In 2008, Ipsos Reid reported that 51% of people aged 66 were fully retired, while only 16% were working full-time.

In 2012, only 27% of people aged 66 were retired, while 26% were working full-time. That’s a big jump in just four years.

According to the Canadian 2016 census, 30% of 66-year-olds were working full-time. The trend is increasing.

Why?

• 25% say, “I enjoy my job. I don’t want to stop.”
  
  
• 21% say, “I want to stay mentally active.”
  
  
• 16% say, “I need to earn enough money to live well.”
  
  
• 13% say, “I don’t believe government pension benefits are enough.”
  
  
• 10% say, “I need to cover basic living expenses.”
  
  

The trend continues.

According to Statistics Canada and The Globe and Mail, in January 2019, over 53% of senior men reported working—and almost 23% of those full-time. Over 39% of women were working—twice the level of 1995.

So, there are a lot of reasons—besides money—to continue working.

Think about it: if the odds are that you’ll live past 80, that’s 15 years past 65. What do you want to do with a quarter of your adult life?

We’ve placed clients in their late 50s and 60s who said, “I want to stay intellectually engaged. I want to keep my brain active for as long as I can.”

Many people try retirement, do it for 6 months or two years, and then say, “This is interesting—but I still want to do something.”

With the right franchise business, you can have lifestyle choice in retirement while staying intellectually engaged.

There are many options—and you need to figure out which are right for you. When looking at your long-term goals and the retirement component of those goals, this is critical. The business you ultimately buy must be able to deliver on those goals. And the reality is—not all businesses can.

One of the most common questions I get is: Who is suited to franchise ownership?

A lot of people think, Not me. They think they don’t have the right skills, the financial resources, or they just believe it’s not for them.

But let’s reframe that.

Business owners have the same skills that employed people do. They’ve just figured out how to use those resources more effectively to serve themselves better. There’s nothing magical about business owners. They don’t come from a special cast of people.

Where do business owners come from? If you asked 10 entrepreneurs what they did before owning their business, most would say, “I used to work for someone else.” The same skills they used as employees—they now use in a self-employed space.

So the real question isn’t who’s suited to franchise ownership? The better question is:

Which types of businesses am I best suited to?

Now that we’ve explored why franchise ownership and business ownership, in the next segment, we’ll explore the three different options you have for going into business.