Buy a Franchise. Change The World.

At the risk of sounding sappy, I’m going unveil one of my most passionately held beliefs about small business start-ups, regardless of whether it’s a franchise opportunity or independent venture:  I believe that the only valid reason for starting a new business is to change the world.

This belief is not based on pie-in-the-sky idealism, but a very practical observation:  growing a business takes tremendous effort, stamina and commitment.  It takes, perhaps above all else, the ability to keep all involved motivated to do their best day after day after day after mundane day.  Financial motivation, for most of us, only goes so far.  We long to know that we are making a difference in the world, that we are helping to further the causes that we care about, and that we make a difference.

Employment studies have shown that adequate (or even high) financial compensation does not make employees happy in their jobs.  Why?  Because personal fulfillment comes from being part of something worthwhile, for being recognized, for making a difference.  It’s easier for a business owner to maintain focus and enthusiasm if he or she has (and his or her employees have) both financial and non-financial motives for maximizing the success of the business.

IMHO, the best businesses are those that enable all involved to feel that they are truly making a difference in some way… that they are both making a living AND changing the world.

I thought about this today when I was posting an entry on the Fairway Divorce Solutions FanWall on Top New Franchises.  Founded by Karen Stewart, Fairway Divorce Solutions is a new franchise that offers an alternative to traditional divorce settlement process, one that’s based on cooperation rather than confrontation.

I think that Fairway Divorce Solutions franchisees will have to possess a great deal of skill, empathy and commitment to create mutually negotiated divorce agreements between parting couples.  They’ll also need to be flexible enough to pioneer both a new concept AND a new franchise system.  However,  it’s hard to imagine of a more personally fulfilling business to be in than to be helping families lay the groundwork for peaceful cooperation and mutual respect when, without you, they may have resorted to anger and resentment.

It seems to me that this concept, if grown correctly, could really have a significant and far-reaching impact on many, many lives.  If Karen Stewart and her Fairway Divorce Solutions franchisees can pull it off, they’ll reap the rewards of those who can look back and say, with certainty, that they changed the world.

DO YOU KNOW A FRANCHISE COMPANY THAT’S CHANGING THE WORLD?  SHARE IT BELOW.

Photo of Karen Stewart:  Fairway Divorce Solutions

Post from: Franchise Pick