Entrepreneurs come in all shapes and sizes but there tends to be a number of common denominators when it comes to successful ones – drive, ambition, resourcefulness, empathy, the list goes on. You’ll notice that I didn’t mention experience in that list because, while it can of course be a very handy attribute, it’s not the be all and end all when it comes to running a successful business.
Look at some of the most successful entrepreneurs in recent times and the sectors they have been immersed in and, while they clearly have an aptitude and a genuine interest, they are not necessarily experts in those fields. For example, what about Richard Branson who has developed successful Virgin enterprises in sectors as disparate as music, banking, trains, airlines and leisure. Would Branson himself claim to be an expert in all those disciplines? I doubt it, yet given the entrepreneur that he is, he essentially spotted a sector which could benefit from his style of business building and went about selecting experienced people to run those operations.
So, while specific experience is a benefit, it should not hold an individual back if they haven’t spent the last 20 years of their life living and breathing one sector. It’s the reason why franchising has grown in popularity in recent years, especially within sectors as diverse as property, food, retail, etc. In fact you name a sector and it’s likely to have a successful franchise operation active within it.
If you’re entrepreneurial and you want to be involved in a specific sector – you recognise the opportunity that exists within it – then the franchise option could well be the best way to develop your business. Because what franchisors offer – at least the good ones – is the right kind of back-up and support to help entrepreneurs develop their proposition with more certainty and less risk. In essence, it’s the franchisors who deliver the sector expertise and they can impart that to the franchisee and help them establish their firm through training, ongoing professional development, vocational qualifications, marketing collateral, advertising, branding, recruitment, business management, and everything else that a new business will inevitably require.
Add in the entrepreneurs’ personal talents – typically their vision, drive, ambition, intelligence, local knowledge, etc – and you have an excellent grounding for delivering a successful venture no matter what the sector. In the property market, for example, we believe there is no better time to be offering solutions for consumers which cover both sales and lettings. The UK’s property market has developed considerably over the past five years since the Credit Crunch and subsequent recession, and there are considerable transaction volumes resulting from consumers buying and selling property, tenants looking to rent quality homes, and landlords seeking quality tenants.
An agent that focuses on a personal and quality service across all these strands, coupled with the backing of a global brand, should be able to hit the ground running and quickly develop a significant business, firstly in a local area but also enable regional growth. It’s for this reason that many individuals, even those who are completely new to property, look at the CENTURY 21 brand and recognise it can be the way to immediately gain an advantage in what is a very competitive marketplace.
A lack of experience shouldn’t hold you back from looking at sectors which you might currently have superficial knowledge of. The important thing is to recognise the potential market opportunity and to partner with a franchisor that has that experience in spades; a franchisor that has everything in place to make your lack of experience irrelevant. With the power and backing of a major player, there is no sector that an entrepreneur can’t tackle and succeed in.
