When you first decided to buy a franchise, the chances are it wasn’t just a spur-of-the-moment decision.
For most people, choosing to become a franchisee is rooted in personal aspirations.
Common catalysts include a desire for financial independence, a better work-life balance, and the ambition to build something of your own – before reaping the rewards of your hard work when it comes to moving on.
It’s those personal motivations that shape your journey as a franchise owner. And just as importantly, they should shape how – and when – you exit the business.
This guide explores why your personal goals matter more than you might realise when it comes to preparing for a franchise resale.
We will explain how setting financial goals from the start can give you direction, drive performance, and can ultimately define the success of your exit.
But if you are already running a franchise and haven’t set any such objectives yet, don’t worry. We’ll also explain how there is still time to do so, and why this mindset shift can make a real difference to your franchise journey.
Setting goals to remind you why you started a franchise
Most franchise owners don’t choose to leave secure employment and invest tens of thousands of pounds into their new business just for fun.
As we said at the start, there are usually deeper personal motivations behind the decision – and it’s important to stay connected with these reasons throughout your franchise journey.
Maybe you wanted to build a business so you could:
- Pass it on to your children and future generations
- Pay off your mortgage early
- Fund your children’s university fees
- Buy a holiday home
- Buy your dream sports car
- Retire abroad
Whatever your own personal “why” is, it’s absolutely worth putting an actual financial target figure on it as early as possible – ideally from the moment you start the franchise.
For example:
- Mortgage-free retirement: £500,000
- Holiday home in Spain: £200,000
- Dream sports car: £100,000
- University fees: £30,000 per child
Having set financial goals not only gives you something tangible to work towards, but crucially you can track your progress against it throughout your franchise ownership.
Staying focused for your entire franchise journey
You will probably already know this, but franchising is certainly not a “get rich quick” scheme!
Instead, for the overwhelming majority of franchisees, owning and running a franchise business is a serious long-term commitment.
Most franchisees tend to stay in their business for between 5 to 10 years, before selling up and moving on.
This provides ample time to develop profitable operational systems, enjoy the many benefits franchising provides, and ultimately build up the value of the business.
An example 10-year franchise journey might look something like this:
| Years | Business Development |
|---|---|
| Years 1-2 | Establish, break even, and grow local brand awareness |
| Years 3-5 | Achieve solid profitability and focus on growing your customer base |
| Years 6-8 | Expand, systemise and delegate procedures, and start putting measures in place to prepare for your resale |
| Years 9-10 | Exit the business with your target sale price and personal goals achieved |
But running a business day-to-day can be relentless, so it’s understandable if you sometimes lose sight of your original goals along the way.
However, having them in place and regularly reminding yourself of them makes it easier to stay motivated and gives context to the business milestones you hit along the way.
That’s why anchoring your efforts to clear, personal objectives is so valuable: it keeps you focused, especially when things get tough, or when strategic decisions surrounding the business need to be made.
When you know you’re working towards a defined financial outcome – whether that’s £100,000, £1 million, or more – it can influence:
- The level of investment you’re willing to make
- How you structure your team
- How you price your services
- Whether and when you expand into additional territories
- Your business’ short, medium, and long-term strategies
Crucially, it can also dictate when the right time is to start preparing for your franchise resale.
This is especially pertinent when you remember that typical franchise resales can take up to 24 months from start to completion.
But even if you’ve been in business for years already without having set your own milestones, it’s never too late to pause, reflect, and decide on them now.
We discuss this in more detail further along in this guide.
Why tangible goals make for smarter planning of your franchise resale
Your ideal return on investment and planned personal financial objectives should influence your entire franchise exit strategy.
That includes:
- What operational performance targets to aim for
- When to start preparing for resale
- What sale price you need to achieve
This clarity also helps you avoid selling too soon, accepting low offers, or entering the franchise resale market unprepared.
Such mistakes can significantly impact on your ability to achieve your goals, or force you into unwelcome compromises.
The importance of knowing your franchise’s true value
It’s critically important you have an accurate understanding of your franchise’s value at different stages of your journey.
That’s because understanding your business’s current worth is essential to mapping out a realistic timeline towards achieving your end goal.
As an example, if your objective is to sell your business for £250,000 in order to fund your next life chapter, but the business is currently only worth £150,000, then you know there’s more growth you need to achieve before you can secure a successful exit.
That knowledge helps you plan and stay accountable to yourself and your goals.
If this is something you need assistance with, we provide a professional independent franchise valuation service.
- For more information about reliable franchise valuations, please read our dedicated guide: How to value a franchise before a potential sale
What to do if your franchise isn’t achieving your valuation goal
One of the biggest benefits of aligning your personal goals with your franchise resale is that it helps you understand the value gap.
In the example mentioned above, there is a £100,000 value gap that must be bridged before you can confidently and happily begin the process of exiting the business.
With that knowledge, you can begin making strategic improvements to the business to drive value.
There are many ways this can be achieved, with the most common being:
- Increasing profitability
- Expanding customer base or services
- Delegating more where possible, so the business is less reliant on you
- Boosting operational efficiencies
If identifying these opportunities is something you need help with, please get in touch.
We have decades of combined experience in helping franchise owners discover gaps within their business, before developing realistic plans to reach their target valuation.
- For more information about understanding and driving your franchise’s value, please read our dedicated guide: How much is my franchise worth?
Why it’s never too late to set goals before your franchise resale
If you’re already well underway in your own franchise journey, or even starting to think about exiting, you might be wondering whether it’s too late to set personal financial goals.
The answer? Absolutely not.
Even if you plan to sell relatively soon, setting goals now still gives you:
- Financial benchmarks to work towards
- Motivation to improve performance before listing for sale
- A better idea of when to enter the resale market
- Clearer negotiation priorities when offers come in
This is a powerful mindset shift: instead of seeing a franchise resale as a reactive decision (“I’m ready to move on”), it becomes a proactive one (“I’ve reached my goal – now it’s time to realise it”).
Always keep working towards a smoother, more satisfying exit
As a reminder, here’s your quick checklist on how to align your personal goals with your franchise resale:
- Set a clear target and put a financial value against it
- Always know your business’ current value
- Identify the gap between the current value and your goals
- Take action to grow your business’ value
- Track your progress and adjust timelines as needed
When the exit from your franchise business is fully aligned with your personal goals, it’s far more likely to be:
- Financially rewarding
- Emotionally satisfying
- Strategically well-timed
That’s because selling your franchise should not necessarily only be about walking away with a healthy bank balance.
It should also be about reaching a point where you feel personally fulfilled, having achieved the goals you originally set out to do. That is the ultimate reward for the many years of hard work, endeavour and effort.
This empowers you to happily move on to the next stage in your life, whether that’s retirement, relocation… or perhaps taking on a new franchise and doing it all over again!
Need help deciding what you want to achieve with your franchise?
At Franchise Business Brokers, we know selling your franchise is about more than just numbers on a spreadsheet; it’s about your goals, your story, and your future.
Whether you’re just starting your franchising journey, or are already preparing to sell, we’re here to help you understand what’s involved, and how to make sure your personal goals stay front and centre throughout.
And if you’re looking to buy a franchise that aligns with your next chapter, we can help with that too!
We have a large portal of franchise resale opportunities and can help you find the one that’s right for your lifestyle and ambitions.
Get in touch for a friendly chat and find out how we can support you with any aspect of your franchise journey:
T: 020 8017 2115
E: info@chantry.email
Why you can trust Franchise Business Brokers
We are the biggest and best team of dedicated franchise marketing and brokerage experts in the UK.
We can help you with as little or as much as you need, from initial franchise valuations and strategies to maximise your business’ value, through to the entire end-to-end franchise resale process.
We also offer a diverse range of businesses for sale in our Franchises For Sale directory.
We look forward to helping you on your exciting franchise resale journey. In the meantime, please explore our website and franchise advice hub to find out more.
