Dear Ask Sage Reader,
After almost a decade with Personal Business Advisors and working with thousands of Executives, I have somewhat become an expert, the ‘go-to-guy’ for many in our organization.
I’ve found that our candidates have similar questions when they embark on the journey of figuring out what to do next with their (professional) lives; how to address the overwhelming un- and underemployment, which is so predominant in our peer group.
I look forward to using this web corner to address some of these questions and hope that you’ll find them helpful for your own purpose.
Sincerely, Sage
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
— Mark Twain
May 16, 2011 at 8:03 pm
I never considered anything but a traditional job and that is where my focus is. But at some point I just may have to broaden my scope and consider something entrepreneurial. It seems so risky though. Don’t franchises and hybrid have a huge risk associated with them?
May 16, 2011 at 8:15 pm
According to government statistics some 5 out of 10 business fail within their first 4 years when started independently due to a lack of capitalization. That is NOT the case with franchises, which have a failure rate of about 5%. As far as the failure rate of hybrids is concerned it is probably also in the 5% range.
So starting a business by yourself is statistically some 10 times more risky than doing it through franchising or a hybrid opportunity. When you compare both to traditional employment, you know ahead of time that your average tenure is about 18 months and the search time in between is almost two years.The way I see it franchises or hybrids win every time.
Sincerely, Sage