Live It 2 Own It: Beyond the Pitch, Promise and Prospectus: Making the Cut in the World of Franchise Ownership

Whether you are just starting out, investing in an existing franchise or making the move to expand your current operation, Live It 2 Own It is your ultimate franchise guide!

Live It 2 Own It is your personal guide to what really matters in selecting the franchise opportunity that’s right for you. Deciding to invest in or expand an independent business involves much more than finding a hot franchise opportunity, running a few numbers and figuring out what you’ll do with all the profits. A franchise operation is a complex and often all-consuming effort that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Live It 2 Own It is designed to help you every step of the way. Use it as your companion, mentor and coach throughout your franchise journey.

The knowledge in this book, like a franchise business, isn’t yours simply because you pay a fee. Handing you the set of keys doesn’t make you a business owner. Having employees doesn’t make you a business owner. Customers don’t make you a business owner (but they are nice to have around). Businesses aren’t purchased—they are earned. To earn a franchise business, you must be willing to win, to go all-in from day one. You must be willing to LIVE IT. You must be willing to live it to OWN IT.

No matter your background or experience level, one thing is certain: You don’t know what you don’t know, and there’s not enough time in the day to learn everything you’ll need to know without help. That’s why L2O is designed to get you the information you need when you need it. Read the book and do the activities from cover to cover and you’ll have a solid foundation for building a thriving franchise operation. You’ll know the questions to ask and where to find the answers.
L2O is your franchise coach—a resource to guide you through the evaluation, selection, operation and growth of your franchise. With hundreds of thousands of franchise opportunities to choose from, no two franchise journeys are exactly alike. We’ve made every effort to provide you with the information and advice you need to make the major decisions all prospective franchisees face while avoiding specific brand, industry or technical advice that might not be applicable to you.
After reading this book, you may find that a franchise operation isn’t for you—and that’s okay. Franchising isn’t a good fit for many otherwise talented and energetic business people. If franchising is your calling, you’ll want to do everything in your power to give yourself the very best chance at success. So, don’t just read this book—OWN IT! Make notes, complete every chapter activity and test what you’ve learned.

This book wasn’t written on a whim over a weekend—it’s a mission that took years. The insights and advice reflected on these pages are not limited to the personal experience of the authors but include insights gleaned from hundreds of franchise professionals representing every aspect of franchising. We spoke with some of the most successful franchisors (ZORs), the people that developed franchise opportunities you’ll be considering. We interviewed high-performing franchisees (ZEEs), consultants and legal professionals. In short, we didn’t set out to write a book. We accepted the L2O challenge.

We LIVED IT.

We OWNED IT.

And now we are excited to SHARE IT!