You could call it my incredible shrinking career.
Growing up in a family of entrepreneurs, I didn’t like the idea of becoming a small business owner. I wanted to do my own thing, something different from what my relatives had done. So as soon as I graduated from college, I entered Ford Motor Co.’s management training program.
My corporate climb
Over the next 20-plus years, as I married my wonderful wife Lauri and started a family, I moved us all over the country and around the world, climbing the ladder to the executive ranks. I met some great people and had some of the biggest successes of my career – but I was working very long hours, and I was doing everything for the sake of the company.
Lauri and I ultimately decided that it wasn’t the life for us, and I left. At the time, however, I still had an employee mindset. So instead of striking out on my own, I just took another executive position with a company that was somewhat smaller. I did the same again a few years later.
I might have kept to that well-worn road until retirement, but life threw me a curveball.
A major health scare jolted me out of autopilot. I wanted many more years with Lauri. My kids were still in high school, and I wanted to be around to see them go to college and start families of their own. Lauri and I started looking into possibilities we’d never considered before, seeking a path to a more sustainable lifestyle.
And that’s how we landed on franchising.
How franchising sold me on becoming a small business owner
Lauri and I ended up deciding that franchising was our best path to the life we wanted, for several reasons. We liked the idea of working from a pre-tested business system and the option of building wealth as area developers. I had extensive leadership experience, so I was confident I could build a great team and oversee a multi-unit business. And we loved that the whole arrangement would enable us to earn a full-time income with part-time work.
Of course, it wasn’t lost on me that I was becoming a small business owner – the very thing I swore I’d never do. But with experience comes wisdom. I had realized that corporate gigs didn’t provide the guaranteed security I thought they did. And although I was always well-paid, I never felt like my long hours and big wins were for me. They were always for the company, and the company reaped the lion’s share of benefit from the results I delivered. As Lauri and I began our franchise journey, I was excited for the new opportunities opening up in front of us.
We had to find a way to pay our bills while our franchise got off the ground. I had signed a contract to open six salon suite franchises over a period of several years. Although I was confident that our income would ultimately be better than ever, I also knew that I wouldn’t be able to draw a full salary right away. So I went to work for a startup in need of leadership help, and Lauri returned to the workforce full-time after managing our household for many years.
I built up the franchise business as a side hustle, hiring a team of managers to handle day-to-day operations as we opened new units. About 5 years later, I was ready to hang up my employee hat altogether. Lauri and I had worked our plan, and the plan had worked. But life wasn’t done throwing curveballs at us just yet.
I hadn’t been out of full-time employment for very long when I realized I had another opportunity in front of me. Franchising had changed my life – it was easily the smartest career decision I’d ever made. But I love building things, and my franchises were on cruise control. My solution: help others experience the same freedom I’d found as a franchisee.
How going small helped me go big
That’s how The Empowered Franchisee – my smallest venture yet – was born. I had gone from the executive ranks of a Fortune 50 company all the way to being a solopreneur consultant. And although the team has since grown to include Lauri as a co-consultant and several contractors who assist us with marketing and administrative tasks, it’s still very much a small business.
This journey hasn’t shortened my horizons, though. On the contrary, as my work environment has grown smaller, my life has grown bigger.
First, I’ve met a more diverse group of people than I did in all my years as a corporate executive. My salon suite franchises are home to more than 270 salon owners from all walks of life, not to mention the clients they serve. And they’ve all been generous enough to share their stories and dreams with me. They’ve been more inspiring and energizing than any group of people I ever worked with.
Second, I’m healthier. As an executive franchisee and franchise consultant, I control my own schedule and can build in time for taking care of myself. I’m exercising more, eating better, and doing more activities that benefit my emotional and mental well-being.
Finally, I have more time for my family. Nothing makes my life feel bigger. My kids are adults now and living on their own, but I can drop everything to hang out with them when they come into town. And Lauri and I can go wherever we want, when we want. I’m not subject to any corporation’s return-to-office mandate. We’ve visited our kids in the cities where they live, summered with my siblings in Maine (at the wonderful spot in the photo at the top of this post), traded the Nashville winter for Florida sunshine, and more.
You can have the same experience – or something different, if that’s your preference. That’s the whole point: franchising gives you freedom to pursue your goals. By becoming a small business owner, you can build a bigger life for yourself and your family. Ready to learn how to do it? Lauri and I are ready to help. Book a free consultation with one of us today to get started.
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