You don't need a business degree to be a franchisee. Franchising is the world's most successful business model because it takes people from all walks of life and gives them the tools they need to be entrepreneurs. Considering your natural talent, skills and life experience, you've probably got a lot to be confident about as you prepare for your franchise journey. Still have doubts? Maybe your career thus far has been totally different from the franchise you hope to buy? In ‘You've Got What It Takes’, we show you how your work experience-or any other experience-can be applied in a franchise setting.

This issue, we consulted a franchise lawyer, Lori Karpman, to explain how a restaurateur found his new home in the inspection business. What he does Once the location and price have been settled, would-be homeowners call a franchisee like Bert Gaudet. Bert's business is home inspection; his thorough review (taking two to three hours, on average) can convince clients a house is either worth buying or walking away from. Bert starts work between 9 and 10 a.m., inspecting two to three houses per day, four to six days a week, depending on the season. He begins an inspection before his client even shows up, evaluating the state of the foundation, roof and chimney of both the property in question and surrounding neighbourhood. If the home seller is present, he'll introduce himself and try to smooth over any potential friction. The interior inspection begins once the client arrives. Bert's franchisee checklist includes 680 points of evaluation; he considers everything from wiring to roof and floor construction to the energy efficiency of windows and doors. He also assesses landscaping (if it has any effect on the structure of the home) and notes discrepancies between the real estate listing and the actual house. In practice, Bert's 680 points swell to more than 1,000. His report is delivered to the client on-site, as soon as the inspection's completed. The client then takes it home, reads it and calls Bert with any followup questions. Typically, Bert's clients make their purchasing decision within 24 hours. How he got here • Bert's first foray into entrepreneurship was Mooser's Pub & Eatery, in Dieppe, N.B. He bought the property in 1996, gutted it, then rebuilt it as a mid-range, family-oriented restaurant. • As a former bartender, Bert knew he liked highly social jobs. However, he lacked the management experience to match his people skills. He made up for this by educating himself as much as possible, even as he ran the restaurant. Bert consulted accountants and other professionals, took courses in restaurant management, menu costing and food safety, and even attended human resources and time management seminars. • Mooser's was a serious time commitment. Bert arrived at 5 a.m. to perform janitorial duties and prepare the line in the kitchen. The restaurant opened for business between 7 and 10 a.m., depending on the day; from then on, Bert alternated between waiting tables, management and bookkeeping duties. These jobs kept him working until 7 p.m. every day; he then went home for a two-hour nap, before returning to close Mooser's at 2 a.m. • By 2004, Bert needed a change. Realizing his early struggles were due in part to his lack of experience, Bert began considering franchises. As a franchisee, he'd be able start a business with help from experienced people. • After a great deal of research, Bert made contact with a Moncton based Canadian Residential Inspection Service franchisee who was looking to sell. For Bert, it seemed to be an opportunity to reduce his labour, increase his family time and maintain the one-on-one customer interaction he so enjoyed from his restaurant work. • Bert still needed accreditation to be a home inspector. His franchisee training - a regimen of CD-ROM-based coursework, followed by online exams-began in April 2008. While it proved intimidating for a man so long out of school, Bert persevered and came to master the highly technical material. Lori Karpman says: Every franchised business is different, but all of them require franchisees to possess certain basic skills. Fortunately for Bert, he's got all of them. It's no surprise to me he was able to transition from restaurants to home inspection so easily. Running a restaurant requires you to be as good with people as you are with numbers. Bert clearly enjoys human interaction, so it makes sense he's chosen another field in which communication is critical to success. Organizational skills are important, too. As a restaurateur, Bert had to balance staff and management schedules for several positions, likely both part-time and full-time. Mastering that kind of juggling must come in handy for him now, as he turns his attention to a week's worth of would-be homeowners, all with limited time and busy schedules of their own. Obviously, home inspection is a business demanding great attention to detail; the restaurant business does, too. Most of a restaurant's costs are fixed; the only way you can gain or lose money is by controlling food and labour costs. Menu costing, wasted inventory, over-staffing-any restaurateur who ignores these matters risks losing a lot. A shift of even a percentage point in sales can amount to tens of thousands of dollars by the end of the year. Taking care of all these details requires thoroughness, which, in turn, requires a strong work ethic. This is Bert's greatest asset. As a restaurateur, he worked daunting hours to make his business successful-he was also willing to educate himself in those areas where he needed improvement. This would have told his future franchisor two things: first, he is willing to work very hard to achieve his goals; and second, he can admit he doesn't 'know it all.' Anyone joining a franchise system must follow procedures created by someone else, so they must be willing to learn. That's even more important for Bert; as an inspector, he had an awful lot of studying to do. ~ September/October 2009, Franchise Entrepreneur