Use Your Existing Skills to Become a Business Owner

So you’ve worked in a corporate setting your entire life and you want to find something new. It’s natural to want to take charge of your career, controlling your own destiny, and enjoy the feeling of your business’s success. For many people waking up dreading work, sitting behind a desk, and dreaming about a better life is a daily reality, but it doesn’t have to be. You can own your own business by taking advantage of lawn care franchise opportunities.

Owning a business can seem daunting, but you might be surprised at how valuable your existing skillset is, even without experience owning a business. People who have traditional work experience—corporate, retail, and blue collar just to name a few—have a lot to offer as franchise owners. And the best part? Before you get started as a franchisee you will undergo thorough training to prepare you for what lies ahead.

Traits of a Good Owner

Although cutting grass itself is not rocket science, taking advantage of lawn care franchise opportunities still presents its share of challenges. That’s where your previous work experience comes in; even if your only experience with landscaping was doing your own yard, you probably have skills that lend themselves to franchising.

The beauty of owning a business is that a wide variety of people can succeed. Diverse work backgrounds are particularly helpful in a franchise system, but there are a few traits that will help you succeed. Some of the most common traits that franchises look for include:

• Service oriented
• Self-motivated
• Hard working
• Optimistic
• Adaptable

In addition to these traits, it is helpful if a franchisee has some level of understanding of things like operations, management, sales, marketing, and financial management, as all these are some of the basic responsibilities of business owners.

Training Fills in the Blanks

When you start thinking about owning your own business, it is not unusual to second guess whether your skills will be applicable. After all, your background is in one area of corporate America, so unless you invest in a franchise in that same industry you will have no idea what you are doing right? Wrong!

Perhaps the greatest appeal of investing in lawn care franchise opportunities is the training that the franchisor provides. Quality training—like from U.S. Lawns—is how you learn how to apply your existing skills to your business while learning brand new ones as well.

Every franchisee brings a different set of skills to their business, and each one is important:

• An accountant brings strong financial management.
• A teacher brings clear communication.
• A retail manager brings the ability to multi-task.
• A salesperson brings strong people skills.
• A human resources professional brings conflict management.

This list is by no means comprehensive; these are just some of the skills (and a very small number of the professional backgrounds) that quality franchise candidates bring to the table. The purpose of franchise training is to fill in the blanks in your skillset, giving you the tools you need to succeed in your new role.

If you are looking into lawn care franchise opportunities, look no further than U.S. Lawns, the #1 commercial landscaping franchise in the country. Our franchisee hall of fame is full of owners from all kinds of backgrounds, and each one has been able to bring in their own set of skills to be a strong business owner.

To get started with us download our ebook to learn how we help our franchisees succeed.