Most franchise buyers believe that their success is determined, in large part, based on the strength of the franchise brand. They believe that if they just do enough research, background checking, and find a great location, the rest will take care of itself. This is simply not the case. To be sure, brand recognition is important, but below are four reasons why you as the owner (and not your franchisor) hold the keys to success.
1.Community: The importance of the local community that is within a 10 mile radius of your franchise will dictate your success. One of your top priorities, as an owner, is to mold yourself to your surrounding community. You must build relationships with those around you. Get to know the other businesses near your location. Get to know the people that run those businesses. Your main objective in doing this should not be to drive those people to your store. Rather, you should be building up a relationship of trust, authenticity and responsibility that gives those people the confidence and conviction to recommend you to their friends and family. Only you can build these relationships in your local community, not your franchisor.
 2.Excellence Repeated: You must give people a reason to pick your business over the competition. You must create an experience within your local franchise that gives people a reason to come back time and time again. The surest way of doing this is delivering excellence, repeatedly. This should not be difficult with a good franchise. You already have the system. As the owner, you just need to make sure that the system does not break down. And even with a franchise, often times it does. Just as all franchises are not created equal, all franchisees are not created equal. The ones that pay attention to their systemized processes and follow them usually succeed. You must provide an excellent customer experience. You as the owner have the responsibility and duty to do this, not your franchisor.
 3.Front Line: You, as the owner, are on the front line of your business. You are front and center for every promotion, every sale, every interaction, and every experience that your customers have at your location. Even if you are not physically there. Most people love local businesses that deliver a great product or service consistently. Most franchises are owned by people in local communities, hire local workers, and are involved in local events. The advantage you have with your franchise over that of a non-franchise, is that you have systems and processes already in place that somebody else thought of and that are proven to work on some scale (Note: if you don’t have this with your franchise, you might ask yourself what benefit you are receiving from your franchise in exchange for the fees and on-going royalties that you are being charged.). The point is, that while your franchisor receives the numbers and the royalties, only you can truly understand the day-to-day operations of your franchise.
 4.Employees: As the franchisee, you are responsible for hiring employees to help you succeed. The franchisor gives you the tools, but you have to find the people to help put the tools to use. There is arguably nothing more important and nothing more stressful than hiring, firing and dealing with employee matters. Your ability, as the owner, to hire the right people and manage them properly will truly make or break your business. The franchisor has nothing to do with this process, it is all on you.
