What’s your retirement plan? For some people, a conventional retirement is the ultimate goal. They plan to stop working and focus completely on leisure activities, time with family, and possibly some charitable work. In our experience, however, this type of retirement doesn’t appeal to everyone. Career-driven individuals, especially, often worry about being bored or isolated in conventional retirement.
These are not unreasonable concerns. In fact, research shows that full retirement comes with potential health pitfalls. For many people, work is a key source of fulfillment, identity, socialization, and mental and physical activity. Take it away, and the risk of both physical and mental health issues increases by up to 40%. Men are especially vulnerable to increased heart disease, depression, dementia, and even early death immediately following retirement.
But if you want to avoid these pitfalls in retirement, I’ve got a solution for you: franchising. Here’s why it works.
The Franchise Retirement Plan Benefit #1: Life and Community
Thanks to the franchise owner network, franchising provides a high level of connectedness. You’re automatically plugged into a large group of fellow entrepreneurs. Many franchisors also offer periodic events, such as conferences or trainings, where franchisees can gather and connect with each other.
But the strongest connection comes from day-to-day interactions with other owners in your network. Franchisees serve as colleagues, mentors, advisors, and friends to each other. Phone calls, emails, coffee meetups, and site visits are all a regular part of the networking routine.
As a franchise owner, you’ll also have a team to manage – another source of interpersonal interaction. For many corporate, nonprofit, and military leaders, directing and mentoring a team is a very fulfilling experience. When franchising serves as your retirement plan, you don’t have to give up that fulfillment. Instead, you get a whole new opportunity to mentor the people who work in your business!
The Franchise Retirement Plan Benefit #2: Earning Without Burnout
If you work in the corporate world, you know that it often demands a difficult tradeoff: in order to earn a high salary, you typically have to devote long hours to the company’s bottom line. It’s not uncommon for executives to work 10-12-hour days and spend many weeks each year on the road, away from their families.
Nonprofit and military leaders, though they don’t earn the same salaries as corporate executives, often have to work just as hard. Some literally have to put their lives on the line for their work.
As a successful executive franchise owner, however, you can earn a significant income while investing just 8-10 hours per week of your time. That’s because the business is run by your team, not you. With capable franchise managers and employees in place, you can focus on high-level financial and strategic matters and spend the rest of your time enjoying retirement.
The Franchise Retirement Plan Benefit #3: Mental Stimulation
A conventional retirement plan often leaves out a key element: mental stimulation. Leisure activities are fun, but they mostly exercise your body. Keeping your brain active is also essential for quality of life in your golden years.
Franchising enables you to continue solving complex problems, exercising your strategic muscles, and engaging in other mental activities that keep your mind flexible and alert. This kind of work can provide the sense of purpose and satisfaction you need to feel fulfilled in retirement.
The Franchise Retirement Plan Benefit #4: Goals and Accomplishment
For most people, retirement means a loss of structure. Your job provides a daily routine and regular KPIs for you to meet, whether those objectives have to do with revenue, fundraising, or missions to accomplish. As an experienced leader, you probably excel at meeting those KPIs and gain a sense of satisfaction from doing so. In fact, those traits are likely a primary reason you’ve succeeded in your career.
If you’re anything like me, you probably don’t want to give up setting and meeting goals anytime soon. When you incorporate franchising into your retirement plan, you give yourself a future where you can continue to experience a sense of accomplishment. Whether you’re meeting a growth or revenue goal for your business, a mentoring goal for an employee, or a recognition goal from your franchisor, franchising provides plenty of ways to gain a feeling of achievement.
Even if you’re in your 40s, it’s not too early to think about incorporating a franchise into your retirement plan. In fact, the earlier you start, the greater your chance of success. Franchising for retirement was one of the smartest decisions I ever made. If you want to learn more about how it can work for you, book a free call with me!
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