It’s true. Franchising is my area of expertise and a business model that I am enthusiastic about. But, can I say unequivocally that anyone with the requisite cash and some abilities will flourish as the owner of a franchise?

Sad to say, the answer is no. Let’s look at this question in a way that you may not have heard before.

After something like 20 plus years in the franchise arena owning and managing franchise advisory companies and writing franchise books, I have come to the conclusion that franchising doesn’t work for everyone.

My contention is that the best person to own a franchise(s) is the one that falls into the category between employee and pure entrepreneur. We all know what an employee is—someone who fulfills a function in a company, big, small, or in-between and who takes orders from and is responsible to a higher ranked individual, a boss. In my mind, a pure entrepreneur formulates an idea, a concept, or a product for a business and then initiates the steps to make it a reality. The entrepreneur is in charge of all the moveable parts that will make the business a going concern.

If we buy into this assertion, it’s interesting to see what the ideal franchisee market in the U.S. might be. For example, if there are approximately 320 million people in the U.S., and 40% of this number is deemed too young or too old, that leaves us with 192 million possibilities. If I conjecture that 75% of this population is most suited as employees, that takes care of 144 million people. If 5% can be called pure entrepreneurs, or 9.6 million , we are then left with a potential population of 38.4 million people who conceivably can succeed as franchisees.

Do you agree with me as to the best person to own a franchise? I would love to hear your comments and ideas. Click here to respond.