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<span style="Cambria&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;major-latin;major-latin; Arial;background:white;me with a glass of milk and a stack of chocolate chip cookies, him with a binder full of paper, pencils and a ruler&#8212;as he designed blueprints, worked on financials and brainstormed different concepts, each more interesting than his last. <span style="Cambria&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;major-latin;major-latin; Arial;background:white; meanwhile, following a dream was just that, a dream. Although he didn&#8217;t lead by example, he reinforced the importance of pursuing dreams, working for oneself and, most importantly, being happy. <span style="Cambria&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;major-latin;major-latin; Arial;background:white;ve always found comfort in my dad&#8217;s wisdom, but I never truly believed that being my own boss was a real option. However, Blair Nicol might have a thing or two to say about that. <span style="Cambria&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;major-latin;major-latin; Arial;background:white;s system, Nicol shared some of franchise wisdom through some must-know tips to improve your chances for success when signing on for a franchise.<span style=" color: #424858; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Do Your Research. <span style=" color: #424858; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Know Your Options. Develop a business model.<span style=" color: #424858; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> <span style=" color: #424858; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">&#8220;How will you ever know if you&#8217;re looking for the right franchise if you don&#8217;t know what you want in a franchise in the first place,&#8221; Nicol says. &#8220;Think of it this way: If you were looking to buy a house, wouldn&#8217;t you first sit down and write out the criteria of what you want in a house, and then start to look? It&#8217;s the same thing here, just a different set of criteria.&#8221; <span style=" color: #424858; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Have a plan.<span style=" color: #424858; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> <span style=" color: #424858; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Understand that the best opportunity is the one that fits your goals and is most affordable. <span style="Cambria&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;major-latin;major-latin; Arial;color:#424858;background:white;Build what we call your &#8216;Business Model&#8217; first. In other words, start with the end in mind,&#8221; Nicol says. <span style=" color: #424858; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Never settle.<span style="Cambria&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;major-latin;major-latin;Arial;color:#424858; background:white;Get what you want,&#8221; Nicol says. &#8220;This is your business and your decision. With so many choices and this being a life changing decision, make sure you are happy with your decision and do your research properly.&#8221; <span style=" color: #424858; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Asses your risk tolerance.<span style=" color: #424858; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Get help!<span style="Cambria&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;major-latin;major-latin;Arial;color:#424858; background:white;There are plenty of good advisors out there to help you get this done,&#8221; Nicol says. &#8220;I see too many people who try to do this on their own for the first time and they wonder why it&#8217;s so hard. It really isn&#8217;t that hard if you get the right advisors from the beginning.&#8221; <span style=" color: #424858; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Know your personality type.<span style="Cambria&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;major-latin;major-latin; Arial;color:#424858;background:white;You are able to do unbiased research to see if the franchise you are interested in is a potential match,&#8221; Nicol said. &#8220;Ultimately, what you want to find is that the more successful franchisees are like you, are obtaining a result that you would be happy with as well, the franchise matches your Business Model that you created, and that you can do what they have done to get there.&#8221; <span style=" color: #424858; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Make a decision.<span style=" color: #424858; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Hang in there.<span style=" color: #424858; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> <span style=" color: #424858; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">The research process can be overwhelming at times, but patience is a must. This is a 2 &#8211; 3 month research marathon, so it is not a race.

1851 Franchise

FranNet’s Blair Nicol shares words of wisdom for new entrepreneurs. 

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