Franchise Prospects Profess Key Strengths for Ownership Success
Willingness to follow a proven system, and ‘Grit’ are cited by most franchise prospects surveyed.
By: Franchise Insights
December 14, 2022 — Two-thirds of franchise inquirers profess having both of the two most important characteristics for succeeding at franchise ownership, according to the November 2022 Startup Sentiment survey by Franchise Insights. “Willingness to follow a proven system” was reported by 66.7% of respondents, followed by the selection of “grit – persistence towards a goal despite obstacles.”
Grit was defined as “perseverance and passion for long-term goals” by psychologist Angela Duckworth and colleagues in a 2014 study of the predictors of success. In this pivotal work, the authors found that traditional predictors like intelligence (as measured by standardized tests like IQ) and talent — possession of extraordinary abilities — were secondary to what they came to define as grit. If you have not been exposed to the research findings, you might enjoy this six-minute TED talk by the author whose video has been viewed over 22 million times.
Grit may be necessary, but it is not sufficient for the successful operation of a franchise. The willingness of franchisees to follow a proven system is a well-known success factor, and the recognition of that characteristic in today’s prospective owners bodes well for the coming generation of franchisees.
The next tier of strengths, each cited by 40.9% of the surveyed respondents, included one more personal characteristic – leadership – and two enabling factors without which prospects would be unable to succeed. Access to sufficient startup capital, and a supportive spouse or partner were also cited by 40.9%, and clearly represent necessary ingredients to a successful franchisee profile.
Surprisingly, 34.8% professed prior experience at business ownership, and another 31.8% claimed to have experience in the business category they are pursuing.
An “other” category garnered some valuable other traits that we will include in the next round of the survey. “Training” experience, and “sales and marketing skills” are two examples.
It should not be surprising that with raging inflation, rising interest rates and talk of recession, that the people who are taking the steps toward franchise ownership are a confident and determined cohort. The November 2022 Startup Sentiment survey showed that 17.1% of respondents see business conditions deteriorating in three months, but 82.9% still see conditions for business startups “the same or better” in that same time period. In the same survey, 53.4% of entrepreneurs planned their startups within the next three months, closer to August’s recent high of 69.2%.
The most recent Startup Sentiment Index™ survey was conducted November 24-30, 2022.
Download a copy of the complete November 2022 FranchiseInsights.com Startup Sentiment Index report here. See excerpts from prior SSI™ surveys and subscribe to receive the Small Business Startup Sentiment Index™ monthly report when it is released.
The Small Business Startup Sentiment Index™ is based on a monthly survey of individuals who have recently inquired about businesses or franchises for sale on the digital assets of FranchiseVentures.
Franchise Ventures is the leading franchise lead-generation platform for potential franchisees to thousands of growing franchise systems in the United States and Canada. Its franchise lead generation brands include Franchise.com, Franchise Solutions, Franchise Gator, Franchise Opportunities, Franchise For Sale, SmallBusinessStartup.com and BusinessBroker.net, and together they provide the largest aggregation of prospective franchise buyers in the U.S.
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Published on Wednesday, December 14th, 2022.