You don’t need partners to start your business, but it certainly makes life as an entrepreneur easier. The best way to decide whether you should bring on partners is to look at your strengths and weaknesses and figure out if you can build a successful business without someone filling the weaknesses with a complementary skill set.

Owning a small business is not just another job. It’s a totally different lifestyle. You have to ask yourself whether you’re ready for a commitment to the success of your business. As a small business owner, many business types and models require you to sacrifice personal time that you may or may not be willing to sacrifice. You will be providing collateral to raise money for the business. If you are willing to make those sacrifices, it’s time to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of owning your own business.

Pros:

You have the chance to make a lot more money than you can make working for someone else. You’ll be your own boss and make the decisions that are crucial to your business’ success or failure. You may be the boss of other people. You’ll have job security – no one can fire you. You’ll be able to benefit the local economy, such as by hiring other people to work for you. You’ll have the personal satisfaction of creating and running a successful business. You’ll have the chance to build real retirement value (for example, by selling the business when you retire). You’ll have the chance to put down roots in a community and to provide a sense of belonging and stability for your family.

Cons:

You may have to take a large financial risk. You may end up spending a lot of your time attending to the details of running a business and less time on those things you really enjoy. You may have to undertake tasks you find unpleasant, such as firing someone or refusing to hire a friend or relative. You may have to learn new disciplines, such as filing and bookkeeping, inventory control, production planning, advertising and promotion, market research, and general management.

Advantage Rocketzoid:  We can help you make decisions which can increase the pros and decrease the cons.  You want to work from home? You want to just be an executive manager and let someone else run the daily operations? All these things are part of the advantages of using a consulting service.  

Initial consultations, introductions to get additional financial  or legal support, and franchise support is ALWAYS free.

Our startup business fees for non-franchising business owners are simple and are paid for as a delivered service depending on what help and assistance you need. We never charge for something you don’t really need and document all services up front so you never are surprised.

We help all businesses regardless of stage. We can help with process manuals, reviewing of equipment, and other support services. For businesses that exist and want our help - we charge a flat hourly rate for review of your business to help and can perform these services either on site or through video chat after the initial consultation.

Usually, the best business for you is the one in which you are either most skilled or most interested. As you review your options, consulting with us allows you to explore the growth potential of various businesses in your area. Matching your background with the local market will increase your chance of success. We also provide a business personality assessment that allows us to discuss what areas you might be well suited and which ones might not be as good of a fit to your own strengths.

You need to develop buyer personas. Remember, you can’t be all things to all people so you need to figure out who would be interested in buying what you are selling. To do that, figure out what problem you are solving and who has that problem. That’s the best way to start. Then you can target further using demographic and psychographic factors.

That would be determined by your buyer personas. To promote your product or service, you need to be visible in places where you have the best chance to be seen by your target audience. People can’t buy from you if they don’t know you exist.

A better question to ask is do you think it’s silly? If you believe that you have a product or service that satisfies a need for someone and they are willing to pay you money for it, then you have the foundation of a viable business. A silly business idea would be one that doesn’t meet any of those conditions.

If you plan on connecting with investors for funding, you will likely need a full business plan. However, to get you started, you can focus on building a framework of your business model. This will give you a high-level view and detail how your business creates, delivers and captures value for your customers.

The best way to sell your product is to find out how your customers want it to be delivered. Then decide how you can provide that to them in the most efficient way possible so that you can build your customer base. Then you just need to develop a sales process as part of your strategy that you can manage.

If you are developing proprietary technology or something that really just doesn’t exist (AKA you have no competitors or you are creating a game changer) then an NDA is a good idea to protect your business. However, an NDA isn’t necessarily needed if it is an afterthought for you.

Just like a formal business plan, if you are seeking funding from investors, they will want to see a formal marketing plan. You can build a marketing strategy for your business, set goals, and create tactics to help you achieve those goals without a formal marketing plan.

Systems, support and training. When you buy a franchise, you are buying the franchise system’s proven method of doing business. Franchising offers individuals the opportunity to be in business for themselves, but not by themselves. The franchisor provides support with all the different functions of the business. They have seen the issues that can arise in their business and know how to deal with any problems effectively. They provide extensive initial training and support so you’re well prepared to handle whatever comes. The Franchisor can also provide advertising and marketing support to help build your business. In addition small business lenders look more favorably on a franchise concept that is proven.

We spend hours each week researching franchises so you don’t have to. Our experience and knowledge are the top reasons. The fact that our services are free is a big bonus for you. We help you to choose the safest, most successful business opportunities available. We can save you weeks or months in research time and introduce you to concepts that you may not have even thought about.

Our corporate group takes over 3 months to vet a concept. We want to make sure that the franchises we represent are viable options for our clients. Then I spend hours each week on webinars, looking at Franchise Documents and talking with Development Directors to learn what I can about the system.

And there is no cost to you for this service. The price of the franchise and associated fees will not be higher if you choose to use Rocketzoid, or lower if you go direct to the franchisor.

Our fees are paid by the franchisor, so there is no fee to you. Our Franchise partners realize the quality and fit of a client referred by Rocketzoid.

There are many business models and many options for financing. From using your retirement savings to franchisor incentives, there are many options available.

In most cases the answer is NO. In fact most franchisees have had no experience in the industry that they go into. They choose the franchise for the lifestyle, their excitement for the concept or any number of other reasons.

In fact, most Franchisors want their business operators to focus on running the business and not performing the labor their concepts require. Franchisees are typically managers, rather than workers. Franchisors need people who can be effective in areas such as motivating employees, generating sales, and running the day-to-day operations as effectively as possible.

Franchisors are pretty picky when it comes to awarding franchises. So it is our interest, as well as yours, to only show you franchises that could be a fit.

This one depends almost completely on you. Our consulting process can be completed easily within a few days if you are motivated. Once we present concepts, most clients can find a great match for them within a month or two. After you select the right business for you, it will typically take anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 months for your actual business to open for operation.