Laid off to First Time Business Owner

Joseph is an engineering genius who happily worked in Amsterdam in 2000 for a small company and helped advance its stature in the new booming computer industry when IBM noticed him. The courting soon began, and IBM eventually brought Joseph to America in 2002 – They even threw in a house to sweeten the offer and solidify the deal. Jump ahead 12 years to 2014, in a restructuring of IBM, Joseph is downsized and given a severance package.

After twelve years of living in America, Joseph did not want to give up his ties to the U.S., his house, or his neighborhood. He received a good severance package, and after 14 months of unsuccessful job hunting, Joseph determined that his only recourse was small business ownership. Being a brilliant engineer and a never-once business owner, Joseph wanted a tried and true business model. He did not want to reinvent the wheel, so he sought information on the franchise industry.

Joseph and I discussed the industry, the way it works, and the process of exploration. Joseph created a program in which he could plug data ascertained from FDDs and come up with analytics that he trusted completely. Over the course of our working together, Joseph and I explored a variety of industries and models that fit within his budget and, to a lesser degree, what he knew something about. Knowing he would be fully trained by the company to run the business, he was not concerned about that; his focus was on total cost and ROI.

Finally, after nine months and twenty-one different models, Joseph chose a pet grooming franchise. Now, most people who own businesses that involve pets do so because they love and enjoy animal companionship. Joseph told me that he had never had a pet in his life. He guessed he liked animals all right; he had never given them that much thought. He chose the grooming business because of the analytics; he knew it would be successful. And it is.

*Names and some details have been changed to protect privacy.