Franchise Freedom

Set your own hours as boss, but the costs can be high

(Monday, December 17, 2007) -

Michael Whalen's road to franchise ownership started three years ago, when he was stuck in a corporate meeting in Arizona.

A well-traveled director of print and document operations for 200 OfficeMax stores, Whalen took a break to check in on his son's fifth-grade basketball championship game back home in Stow.

''As I was listening to the game, I knew it was time to go home,'' Whalen, a father of two, said.

Last year, Whalen, 48, opened a Huntington Learning Center in his hometown, where his staff offers supplemental instruction in reading, writing and math to school-age youngsters.

''I quit my job. I rolled the dice. It was the hardest thing I've ever done,'' Whalen said.

That someone with 20 years of experience in printing would end up owning a children's education company speaks to the diverse world of franchising.

With home printers contributing to the decline of professional printing services, Whalen and his wife, Mary Kay, wanted a business in which demand was growing.

And franchising "" in which new business owners get training and support through those first fragile steps "" offers many more opportunities than fast-food chains that might come to mind.

Joel Libava, president of Franchise Selection Specialists, coaches perspective franchise owners through their options. His clients come from throughout Northeast Ohio. (His service is free; he's paid a finder's fee by the franchisors.)

The needs of franchises can be very different, he said. Some operate 9-5 on weekdays; others operate around the clock.

Owners should also consider how active they want to be. Some franchises fare better with hands-on ownership; others suit those who plan to be absent a lot.

For instance, many new franchise owners are people who lost manufacturing jobs, not folks trained in sales.

''If someone is more of a behind-the-scenes person, I wouldn't present them with a franchise opportunity that requires they meet a lot of people to do marketing,'' he said.

And with about 3,500 franchising businesses, there's a field to suit almost any talent and interest "" from pet stores, cleaning services and hair salons to information technology, fitness and senior care.

But the most important role for any franchise owner is business development, Libava said.

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