Running your own franchise can be an incredibly rewarding experience, but like everything else in life that is worth doing, it is not without its challenges. And because franchisees are human, they will have setbacks and failures over the course of their business. What separates successful franchisees from unsuccessful ones is not how often they have these setbacks, but rather how they respond when they do face them. Take a look at some of our world’s biggest success stories, and you will find people who overcame failure. It took Thomas Edison over 1000 attempts before he invented the light bulb. J.K. Rowling faced rejection from 12 different publishers before selling the first Harry Potter manuscript. And Oprah Winfrey was fired from her job as a news anchor.
There are several steps that a franchisee needs to take in order to move on from their mistakes:
- Admit Your Mistake
The first thing a business owner needs to do when they make an error is to own up to their mistake. Pretending it didn’t happen or trying to cover it up won’t fool anyone. And – worse than not fooling anyone – others will likely think you are either ignorant or a coward if you continue to leave problems unaddressed.
- Explain But Don’t Excuse
It’s important to understand why a mistake was made. You need to be able to explain why it happened. But explaining why something happened and making excuses or transferring the blame for it are two different things. For example, you might say “we lost the account because we missed the proposal deadline.”
You do not want to say, “We lost the account because Employee X was off sick and nobody knew where his work was saved on the system.”
- Fix the Mistake
Once you’re aware that a mistake was made and you understand why it happened, the next step is to correct it if at all possible. At the very least you can probably take a step toward repairing a damaged relationship by making an apology. Other ideas might include offering a discount or a freebie to help make things right again.
- Take Steps Toward Prevention
Learning from your mistakes means taking steps to prevent them from happening again. When you recognize you made a mistake and you understand why it happened, it will be easier to put tools and strategies in place to help prevent the same mistakes from being made again.
- Keep Going
When your franchise suffers a setback as a result of human error, it can be hard on one’s self-esteem. It is important not to let mistakes keep you from forging ahead in your business.
- Keep Perspective
Remember that as a franchise owner, there are going to be times when you make mistakes – but you are in good company. The most successful people have made mistakes. But Thomas Edison didn’t give up after a hundred failures and Oprah Winfrey didn’t hang up her microphone after losing her anchor job. So don’t you quit either!
Keep these tips in mind and you will be able to turn your setbacks into victories. Whether you’ve always thought about owning your own business, or you’re currently contemplating a career transition, FranNet can help connect you with the right business ownership opportunity through franchising. Learn more about your options for business ownership with a free, no-obligation consultation or take this quick Franchise Assessment.