WSI franchises offer businesspeople both support and independence in equal measure. Many of us can imagine a time when we had a really outstanding idea. We had a project in mind, a plan to implement it and the desire to go for it. But, alas, ideas take time and money, and in a traditional employment arrangement, the company tends to want to play things safe, leaving the ideas of many excellent people on the draft board rather than the project table.

With a WSI franchise, you can be more flexible about how you approach revenue growth.

Every owner’s style is different. Sure, we have a tried and true formula that we have tested against the market, but each franchisee can implement it in different ways with his or her own personal touch. Some owners are idea people who want to grow their revenue by trying out new things. Others are people workers who excel at assembling a good, small team of talented individuals.

A franchise offers a lot of leverage to handle things your way, allowing you to focus more on revenue growth and increasing your profitability than on poorly-worded requirements from upper management.

Further, a franchise offers you a lot of support in achieving your ideas and goals. We have a good idea of what the market wants and needs, and what approaches work best for our customer base. So if you have a good idea, and share it with home office, we can give you guidance for how to implement that idea, and how to get the most out of making it work.

Opening a WSI franchise is a wonderful opportunity for you to put your money to use and grow it in a new, exciting way.

Even in challenging economic times like these, many of us have personal equity of various types. Instead of living on it from week to week and hoping for a change, consider investing it in the strong revenue growth possibilities of a WSI franchise.

Remember, recent reports from the UK show that franchising is one of the fastest-growing and most profitable business opportunities out there. This is coupled with the lower risk that comes with opening a franchise instead of a less-supported form of small business. You have support and training from home office, and don’t have to take the risk of making an uninformed choice with your hard-earned money.

As we’ve mentioned before, it can take as little as a year for a franchise, especially a WSI franchise, to become profitable. To some, a year seems like a long time; it can be difficult to get your head around how fast the time can go by until you’ve been there. So let’s have a look at some things you can’t do in a year.

Pay Off a Car: According to statistics, the average car loan in the United States lasts 70 months, or just under five-and-a-half years. It’s rare that people even get a two- or three-year loan, let alone a single-year loan. In most cases, you’ll still be paying for your car when your WSI franchise becomes profitable (hey, now you know where you can send that extra money you’ll be making!).

Earn Money on a CD: The average rates on CDs are pitiful right now. They outdo savings accounts, but still offer less of a return than a strong WSI franchise will. For example, a $10,000 investment at 2 percent interest compounded monthly for 12 months will offer a profit of $201. Is the price of a business-class plane ticket really worth not having access to your money for a year?

Many WSI franchise owners focus on how to increase revenue.

That most certainly is an important aspect of any business — the more money coming in, the better. However, there is also value to learning how to make the most of the revenue you already have, so that every dollar coming in is being used to its best effect.

An effective way to do this is to do an analysis of the time you spend on certain projects, and what those projects bring in compared to what expenses you have to lay out for them.

WSI franchising is an important, excellent way to get into the kind of business and lifestyle you prefer.

But just what does that mean in real terms? There are a lot of questions any business owner is going to want to consider before leaving another job for a WSI franchise.

• How much will I make?
• Will I make more or less than my last job?
• Will my business be successful?
• Can I succeed as a business owner in today’s tough economy?

These are tough questions, but fortunately they do have some answers.
According to most statistics, the broad rule of thumb is that a small business owner, if successful, can expect to make less than his prior salary during the first year of operation. This isn’t really a surprise to most — a big chunk of profits have to go right back into the business to pay back the main investment, buy supplies, etc. But by the second year, they can expect to be making about the same as they were making at their prior job, and by their third year and beyond they will be comfortably pulling in more than they were before.