Tag: entrepreneurship

Entrepreneur vs. Businessperson: Is there a Difference?

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sharks1This year the hit ABC reality television show Shark Tank aired its 100th episode, making it the highest rated show on Friday night. Shark Tank, now in its sixth season, is amongst the top most watched reality shows on television. The shows panel usually consists of it’s recurring millionaire and billionaire venture capitalists: Kevin O’Leary, Robert Herjavec, Daymond John, Barbara Corcoran, Lori Greiner and Mark Cuban.

If you haven’t already seen the show, the way it works is that these venture capitalists are presented with new ideas, inventions and services from new businesses that are seeking investments. The people that enter the “Tank” are given the chance to present these VC’s, or “Sharks” as they are known on the show, with an opportunity to invest in their companies.

Many of the people who walk into the “Tank” are told by the “Sharks” that their business is not a business and that they are not even entrepreneurs. Some are dumbfounded when they hear this because they believe that they are serious entrepreneurs—not just another businessperson looking to make a buck.

So what exactly differentiates an entrepreneur from a businessperson? An entrepreneur is defined as, “a person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so.” A businessperson is defined as, “a man or woman who works in business or commerce, especially at an executive level.” Although the two seem closely related, they actually differ on a major level. In order to understand this concept, we’ll have to use the “Sharks” themselves as examples.

sharks2Kevin O’Leary earned his way to fame and fortune by building his educational software company SoftKey, right out of college. As his empire grew, he eventually acquired The Learning Company for over $600 million—taking the name as well. Eventually, O’Leary sold his business to a company called Mattel for $3.8 billion in a stock swap. In 2003, O’Leary moved on to his next venture, Storage Now, which was later acquired for $110 million.

O’Leary now sits on several boards and operates as an advisor to many companies. O’Leary eventually made his way to the Shark Tank after the success of his other show Dragon’s Den, which Shark Tank is modeled after. O’Leary is known as “Mr. Wonderful” on the show for his outlandish and often brutal honesty—as he so puts. He approaches his investment decisions with the cold hard truth that he believes some ideas are just not meant to be businesses.

sharks3Robert Herjavec got his start by building up his Internet security empire, BRAK Systems, until he eventually sold it to AT&T Canada in 2000. After an early retirement, Herjavec found his way back to the Internet security world when he founded The Herjavec Group in 2003, where he currently operates as the CEO. Herjavec also started out on Dragon’s Den with O’Leary and now holds a recurring spot on Shark Tank. Herjavec appears to be more optimistic than the other “Sharks”, with more of a sensitive side. Maybe it’s the fact that his working-class father immigrated to America in pursuit of the “American Dream” and taught him that hard work pays off—which he’s used as the model for his success.

sharks4Daymond John, who is most famously known for his start-up company FUBU, which he grew with the help of celebrity endorsement and a mortgage from his Mother’s house. John built FUBU into the global empire it is today, with global sales at over six billion to date. Although he is known to be a more reserved “Shark,” taking careful consideration before jumping on a deal, John is known to have a compassionate side and one that has been seen before on Shark Tank.

sharks5Barbara Corcoran built her empire with nothing more than a mere $1,000 loan that she used to start her real estate company The Corcoran Group—which she co-founded. In 2001, Corcoran sold her company to NRT Incorporated for $66 million. Corcoran is responsible for pioneering many revolutionary techniques that changed the real estate market. Corcoran is a wild one—the fun-loving “Shark,” who astounds the others with her business decisions but somehow always proves that she still has her business swagger.

sharks6Lori Greiner began her career with the invention of a revolutionary jewelry box that was capable of holding over 100 earrings. Greiner is now known as the “Queen of QVC”, since she has helped launch over 400 products via the network and holds over 120 U.S. and international patents. She is also the president and CEO of the company For Your Ease Only. Greiner is a savvy investor who has helped grow hundreds of companies. She is a force to be reckoned with—despite her physical appearance she is not to be underestimated.

sharks7Mark Cuban, the richest of the “Sharks”, made his billions despite some claims that were ultimately defeated in court, with the start of his company MicroSolutions in the 1980’s. In 1990, Cuban sold his company for $6 million. After that, Cuban moved on to his next venture AudioNet, which became Broadcast.com and eventually sold to Yahoo! for $5.7 billion. Cuban is probably the deadliest of the “Sharks,” with the biggest bite. He’s known for his ruthless execution and ability to swoop in at any moment and steal a deal right from another “Shark’s” mouth. Although this is true, Cuban has been known to drop out of the race if he feels he can’t contribute more than another “Shark.”

As far as the term entrepreneur is concerned, assuming that it’s not as subjective an idea, but more literal: Mark, Kevin and Robert seem to fit this definition best as opposed to Barbara, Lori and Daymond. The reason for this is due to the fact that these people have started their companies, sold them and started new ones, continuing this trend indefinitely. Daymond is sort of in the middle since his claim to fame is mostly FUBU. Barbara and Lori predominantly gained success from one business, which generated most of their wealth, later allowing them to invest in future companies.

At some point in their lives I believe that all of these “Sharks” were full-time entrepreneurs but as time progressed and success achieved, Barbara and Lori, and to some extent, John actually “switched” positions and became businesspeople, just managing their day to day operations, investing in some other companies, but letting others follow through on the vision, actually passing the entrepreneurial torch on to the next eager person, or better stated, igniting the entrepreneurial torch for others.

Please visit www.FranchiseFoundry.com for more information on emerging brands and entrepreneurs.

Franchising & Entrepreneurship: The Debate Continues…

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franchisingRecently, I posted the article “Are Franchisees Entrepreneurs?” and received plenty of comments defending both sides of the equation. Some seemed to justify their current status as a franchisee as being entrepreneurial while others were emphatic that entrepreneurs are too independent to be franchisees. Franchisors, yes! But definitely not franchisees.

Last week on Franchise Direct the following article, “Entrepreneurship vs Franchising” was posted, and the debate continues…

Entrepreneurship vs Franchising
By Donald Cranford
as posted on Franchise Direct (July 7, 2009)

Given the state of the economy, it’s perhaps a good time to reconsider some of the myths of entrepreneurship to see whether the small business dream holds the same allure it once did. Certainly the days where all you needed to get investment in an internet business was a quirky idea are gone the way of the buffalo. If anything, the death of this kind of entrepreneurship makes the best possible case for franchising.

Some of these thoughts came to us after reading a highly interesting piece in the Harvard Business Review by Walter Kuemmerle, an associate professor at the Harvard Business School in Boston. Although he was writing in 2002, most of the points Kuemmerle makes are still relevant in 2009, if not more so.

entrepreneurshipIn his piece, Kuemmerle seeks to outline the various risks and challenges that a prospective entrepreneur will have to take on to truly succeed. Kuemmerle wants to force business-people to look in the mirror and ask themselves: is this really the model I want to follow to achieve my personal business dreams? The converse to his questions are: is franchising a better business model?

Kuemmerle outlines two entrepreneurship risks/questions that we hadn’t even considered:

Are you comfortable stretching the rules?
Are you prepared to make powerful enemies?

The former is particularly compelling argument against entrepreneurship. Those first two or three years of getting a business going involve taking huge financial risks, and in many cases, hounding off creditors, juggling debt on personal credit cards and even leveraging your family home in order to keep the business afloat. This is a reality that most entrepreneurs simply accept, but it brings great risk and peril to your home life, especially in this recession. But as Kuemmerle says, most success stories for start-up’s he knows include the use of outrageous tactics. Or Kuemmerle later asks: “Do you have the stomach for subterfuge?”

He also points out the fact that having a truly successful start-up often means brushing up against powerful enemies. Kuemmerle adds three other points about the need to be flexible, decisive and incredibly patient to make it as entrepreneur.

Now while all of these skills are generally needed to run a strong small business, the fact is the franchising model eliminates many of the risks and indeed dangers that are part and parcel of launching a start-up. With a franchise, you have a proven business plan and a source of support and knowledge from the franchisor. Some entrepreneurs may disagree with the concept of a franchise fee, but really it is nominal compared to some of the outrageous leaps involved in entrepreneurship. It’s a time for hedging your bets and as Kummerle concludes:

“Being an entrepreneur isn’t for everyone, and even those who have the right stuff find the path to success much rougher, and usually, much longer than they had anticipated.”

Note: Another interesting article surrounding franchising and entrepreneurship was also recently posted on franchisEssentials, “Startups: Do We Really Need Them?”

We’re looking for your comments and insight:

Are Franchisees Entrepreneurs?
Startups: Do We Really Need Them?

Opinions, Insight and Perspectives on Franchising

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I recently posted a question on Linkedin that addressed the primary reasons to explore franchising. Below please find several of the responses from a cross-section of industry and non-industry professionals . As I have done in the past, the names of the responding individuals will be kept confidential. Instead, they will only identified by their Linkedin statement or profile.

doors-optionsWhat is your opinion of franchising as a business model, business expansion strategy and as a career alternative?
as posted in the Q & A section on LinkedIn under Franchising

An SAP Consultant with some franchising experience obviously has done his homework and offered valuable advice as well as sharing some real life experiences.

“I have studied business and many individual businesses personally. I read many business cases and books and have a deep interest in business models and how they work in the current market.

First of all, check out the book ‘The E-myth Revisited?’ It is a very interesting way of viewing a business model. It describes the benefits of the franchise way of doing business.

I also have been involved in a few franchise opportunities, most recently, I was looking to purchase a tanning franchise. The business model was highly tuned, the computer system was revolutionary and perfectly adapted to the business through many years of iterations. The computer system alone would allow you to manage multiple stores with very little hands on control. The power of the franchise itself brought purchasing power and brand recognition which would have been difficult to built independently. The small percentage of revenues to fund regional advertising brought in enough business that I could have been almost completely hands off while still turning a sizable profit.

In short, most entrepreneurs work IN their business, but at a point you need to delegate so you can work ON your business. And franchising is a marvelous way (for most businesses) to grow exponentially.”

This next response if from a business coach that specializes in guerilla marketing strategies. Before I even read her response i knew I would agree with her perspective of franchisees needing to be prepared to work hard despite buying into a system. How true, indeed.

“I think that Franchises represent an great opportunity for some people. They can provide an excellent template for success, as well as resources and support as you are growing your business. That said, opening a franchise is just like starting any other business from the standpoint that you must have a clear idea as to how you will drive customers to your product/service. A franchisor will provide you with the tools and a blueprint, but you are going to have to do a lot of the heavy-lifting yourself. Make sure you are prepared!

Before committing to any franchise, talk to some of their current (and former!) franchisees. Don’t just call the people the franchisor tells you to call; reach deeper into their list of franchisees. Develop a list of questions that you can ask that help you to understand whether this particular franchise is going to be a good fit for you.

Lastly, if you are someone who doesn’t really like “rules”, you may want to think twice about franchising. What makes franchises work is that things are delivered consistently. That can be a good thing, or a bad thing, depending on how well you follow rules!”

An entrepreneur who previously founded a small franchise company offered his view which it appears may have been formed by some entrepreneurial types that entered into a franchise agreement with his franchise company. Personally, I do not believe true entrepreneurs make very good franchisees. On the flip-side, is he referring to true entrepreneurs or franchisees that just had buyer’s remorse and had to blame someone for their poor performance and/or failure?

“I could wax on for hours on the subject and don’t have the finger skills to type it all, but…

First, my qualifications: I founded/own a successful retail business for over 15 years. I have created multiple businesses, some successful, some not, but all independent. I also created a retail concept that I franchised. So I have the unique view of being an independent and a franchisor.

Here are some quotes:
-A franchise is like a bicycle with training wheels. Once you learn how to ride, you won’t want training wheels anymore.
-Franchising is for those who want you to help them…but, then to leave them alone. In other words they want to be indies, but in a community.
-A franchise is only as good as it’s support.
-If a franchise operation doesn’t give back in value more than royalties paid in, the franchisee will eventually resent writing a check to “the mother ship”.
-A franchise is a business model that people expect to have it all figured out – no one has it all figured out.”

A very well-respected and experienced franchise consultant offered his perspective from having worked with individuals explore franchising as a career alternative. I agree that many explore business ownership options because they cannot find a career position that will compensate them as they have grown accustomed to in the past. the choice between franchise and startup often comes down to risk.

“As a business model I think that franchising is or has taken the place of corporate expansion in a lot of cases. Especially in the startup sector. I don’t know how many times recently I have been contacted from a startup that wants to expand via franchising.

I am talking to a lot of people that are looking at franchising as an alternative career path. Most of them are coming to me because they can’t find a job, it isn’t that they don’t want one, but they can’t find one making the money they were making before.

So they turn to owning a business and a logical choice for some of them is a franchise. For others it is starting their own business.

I think it comes down to personal preference and ability to cope with risk factors. I think most of the people that buy a franchise do so to help reduce their risk, so if they were really looking for a job and then had to buy a business, a franchise is probably a one choice.

About 1/3 of my clients are people in this situation that were looking for a new career, due to recent economic conditions, and they couldn’t find what they were looking for.”

An upstart franchise founder offers her views from the perspective of being new to franchising but quite experienced in running her own business. She appears to be spot on about ideal franchise relationships but I look forward to discussing her thoughts after she awards her first four or five franchises.

“As a career alternative, franchises are not for entrepreneurs, whose M.O. is ‘anything you can do, I can do better’. As an expansion strategy, it depends on the industry, product, service and system. For those that rely heavily on outside sales, for instance, hiring salespeople is more risky and time consuming than offering the opportunity for ownership.

I agree that franchising is a great way to grow by working on your business instead of in it.

Franchises offer franchisees:
– Self direction (while some do, many don’t have too-stringent rules)
– Higher income potential than a fixed salary or most sales positions, and often even more than business ownership because growth may be better supported
– Proven solutions to problems that exist in the market, the basis for any startup
– Elimination or reduction of what can often be years or decades of research, development, relationship building and trial and error and financial investment
– SUPPORT”