While no official research has been completed as of yet, several smaller studies have shown that woman owned franchise businesses actually do better than their male counterparts. What scientists are now trying to find out is why these businesses fare better. Some ideas and theories have been raised about this, but some scientists are worried about being called biased towards a certain gender. The sexism debate is still raging, which means it is quite difficult to say that perhaps women owned franchises do better because women, in general, are better at following a system and are not as hard headed as their male counterparts.
Men and Franchises
There is more than enough psychological and sociological research to prove that men are, on average, more hard headed. Additionally, men are more likely to be abrasive, harder to deal with, and more competitive. This increased competition is seen between not just other franchisees who have bought into the system, but also between the franchisor. This is particularly concerning, because franchisors are there specifically to help them succeed, trying to create a win-win situation. The why in all of this is not clear, however, with some saying it is simply a case of attitude. Men, for instance, are notorious for not asking for directions if they want to go somewhere, for instance. A franchise business can be seen as a road map, with a business plan and business model that has taken years to develop, taking the mistakes out, and removing inefficiencies. Essentially, a franchise business plan is a road map to success and those directions should be followed.
In many cases, when someone becomes a franchisee, they will be told that, in order to be successful, they simply have to follow the system. Everything will have been planned for them. Naturally, they also have to work very hard and focus strongly on delivering excellent customer service. If they do this, the business should run itself. Sometimes, a little bit of tweaking and variation is required to make the business more relevant to its region, but the key to franchises is that they all follow one and the same business model.
Still, it seems to be in a man’s nature to think they can improve, and they almost inevitably try to rearrange the system. Unfortunately, this is why many franchises fail. After all, the system has been tried and tested. Women, by contrast, tend to find it far easier to accept that the system has been developed for a good reason, with a lot of thought and testing behind it. They also feel that their focus should be simply on the ins and outs of running a business, not about recreating a brand new style of business. Women who want to create something like that simply start their own business, rather than taking up a franchise.
So very simply put, if only men would be more willing to ask for directions, perhaps their franchises would be more successful as well.
