Own assets that appreciate, rent assets that depreciate is a financial concept that we have heard often from “experts” throughout our lives. But there is an inherent fallacy in this guidance...this advice leaves out an important concept that is critical to those that seek to build significant wealth. A slight, but important, modification to this phrase makes it much more wealth oriented: Own assets that appreciate and generate cash flow, rent assets that don’t. I consider assets that fit this category, “perfect assets” and when I find one like this, priced right, I work hard to buy it as fast as I can, because they are rare. Assets that typically fit this category more often than not are privately owned businesses. The problem is that
buying an existing privately owned business is tough (most don’t want to sell the good ones) and building a business from scratch is even tougher.
A solution to this challenge is to a business. Franchising is an elegant way to own your own “perfect asset” and start building true wealth through business ownership.
Here are 5 reasons why:
1) A franchise is a proven business concept: Very few of us like to go at it alone and navigate uncharted waters. There is a big difference between an entrepreneur and a maverick. An entrepreneur takes calculated risks. A maverick throws caution to the wind. A franchise is a fantastic way to take a calculated risk. A franchise is a proven concept…there is a recipe to follow. With the best franchise concepts, significant training is provided; significant ongoing support is provided; and proven branding and marketing concepts are followed. Simply put, you join a group of peers and gain significant support resources when you join a franchise system. Franchising is a hell of a lot more fun and less risk than the long and lonely path of going it alone.
2) Not all of us have a Harvard MBA or have trained with Warren Buffett: While building a business takes fundamental business acumen, not all of us are Harvard MBA’s. Why leave the fun and rewards of owning a “perfect asset” to only highly trained individuals? A franchise system gives many of us the ability to build your own wealth network without needing to have the business acumen of Buffet.
3) A better mousetrap is pretty hard to design, but not all that hard to build: I was once told that “ideas are a dime a dozen…and most of the good ideas are already taken. The real driver of success is in execution.“ While there certainly is always room for innovation in the world, it is pretty hard to come up with the design for a better mousetrap on our own. Enter a franchise system…a franchise system gives you the design for your mousetrap. You have all the pieces and parts laying on the table waiting for you to put it together. It is your ability to execute that dictates your success. A franchise system allows you to bet on yourself and your ability to execute rather than adding another level of risk associated with worrying about whether the blueprint is right.
4) Cash is king…access to capital is easier with a franchise system: Imagine you are a banker. An entrepreneur walks into your office seeking a business loan to start building his first “perfect asset.” He pitches you two concepts:
- Business A is an unproven idea that you’ve cooked up on your own
- Business B is a proven franchise system that you want to bring to your city/town.
Which business loan are you more apt to fund? Which business loan gives you easier access to syndicated lending via the US SBA (US Small Business Administration). The answer is the franchise concept every day of the week, especially when that concept has been pre-approved by the SBA for lending.
5) Wealth compounds with time: We’ve been taught since the beginning of time about the power of compounding. Getting started is the hardest step in the process. Getting started EARLY is even harder. Franchising eliminates the need to spend valuable time slogging through the design stages of building your network of perfect assets. Every day of lost cash flow is a day that you can’t get back. Don’t spend your time planning…take the plan a franchise concept gives you and spend your time executing! Every day you save with a franchise system will yield another day that you can use to compound your wealth creation.
Get busy building your network of assets that offer both capital appreciation and cash flow…your network of “perfect assets”. Bet on your ability to execute. And when you are ready to jump in, give us a call at SafeSplash Swim Schools. SafeSplash is looking for like-minded entrepreneurs that want to build their own network of businesses. If you liked what you read in this article, we’ll almost certainly like you! www.safesplash.com/franchise
Matt Lane is the CEO and Founder of SafeSplash Brands, North America’s largest and fastest growing network of franchised swim schools. Matt got started building his own network of perfect assets in 2000 and hasn’t looked back.
