This lesson is part of our free Franchise 101 course.

One of the biggest mistakes any new franchisee can make is relying too much on the franchisor. In reality, a lot of the hard work is going to come from you, and that applies before you’ve even decided which franchise to work with. To make your business a success, you need to set the right tone from the start.

A Franchise Shouldn’t Pick Itself

Some people might say that a franchise can’t provide the information you need to decide on your business. But the fact is that franchises can and will provide you with a huge raft of information, in an attempt to make you pick them.

The real issue is that a franchise shouldn’t present you with all the information, because a franchise shouldn’t be picking itself. You’re the one making a choice, and that means you need information from a variety of sources, stripped of as much bias as possible.

To be informed about your decision, you have to seek out the information and make sure that you’re the one picking the franchise, not the other way around.

A Franchise Won’t Know If It Suits You

One of the reasons for this is that you know yourself, but no franchise knows you. You know your passions, your interests, your professional priorities.

Any individual franchise might be perfect for one person and a terrible choice for another. When you’re picking a franchise to join, you need to look at the hard financial data, but you also have to consider issues of taste. Do you want to work with a brand that’s bright and breezy, or one that’s more old-fashioned and classy? That will affect the customers you meet, the people you recruit, and the sort of work you do.

A franchise won’t know if it’s a good fit for you, so you can’t rely on the franchisors to consider this.

You Need to Set the Tone

Relying too much on the franchise rather than yourself can lead to a pattern of not putting in the extraordinary effort it takes to make a new business succeed. Franchisees who simply wait for the franchisor to make things happen will end up going broke. Success comes from combining the benefits of a franchise with your own hard work.

So set the right tone from the start. Gather information for yourself. Evaluate franchises for yourself. Get used to doing the hard work, because you can’t rely on the franchisor to do that for you.

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