Joel Libava
I really thought that I could do it. After all, I’ve managed to keep 4 different franchise and small business blogs of my own up and running with original articles. And, I’ve never missed a deadline for my monthly franchise articles on Small Business Trends and SBA.Gov. Plus, I’m still punching out occasional guest posts when I can.
I work one-on-one (via Skype) with potential franchise owners who’ve requested my help, teaching them how to carefully choose, research, and buy the best franchises around.
I work with a couple of franchisors and suppliers to the industry who’ve called on me to give them a much-needed marketing boost.
And, I do a couple of things in the world of online marketing.
I
There’s a problem; I’m doing everything myself. Everything. I’ve been doing everything myself since I joined my late father’s franchise consulting business in 2001.
I’m not complaining about it. (Not here, anyway.) It’s just my reality.
So, when I came up with the idea of holding a franchise contest for women, I thought that I’d be able to handle every little detail. Like;
- Promotion
- Press Release writing
- Sponsor recruitment
- Even more promotion
- Judging
And, I did a pretty good job with it. (For awhile.) But, the contest is over. Done.
Kaput.
After Announcing The Winner
Nora was a great choice for the #OWOF – One Woman One Franchise Contest. She shared with me that she really needed and wanted some changes to take place in her life. She told me that her husband supported her idea of looking into franchise business ownership. Financially, she was fine.
She was a little hard to get hold of at times, and when I left messages for her to call me back, it took awhile for her to do so. (A lot longer than I thought it should take.)
We did connect a few times. (My contribution to the contest was to provide my franchise ownership advisory services for free, and send a signed copy of my franchise book to the winner.) I guess I wasn’t really feeling it, though. Nora’s enthusiasm wasn’t at a very high level. I shared my feelings with her-not about her low-enthusiasm level…but her slow follow-up to my calls, and she told me that she would start getting back to me faster. Cool. Then we agreed to have a set call-every Monday at a specific time. We had two of those calls.
Then, I dropped the ball.
I missed a couple of Monday calls….I forgot to call Nora on two Monday’s in a row. I left messages…lots of them. Emails, too. But, I got no response. And, I can’t blame her. After all, I’m the professional. I agreed to provide my advisory services at no charge. I told her that I would walk her through the entire franchise choosing, researching and buying process. And, if she did end up buying a franchise, (there was no guarantee that she would-and I told her that she didn’t have to buy a franchise if she wasn’t comfortable doing so at the end of the investigative process) I even had an entire support team ready to help her. (The contest sponsors who were going to provide professional services.)
But, they never had the chance to strut their stuff.
Why Did I Drop The Ball?
I allowed Nora’s apparent lack of enthusiasm to rub off on me. That’s on me. I shouldn’t give someone that much power. I’m responsible for my own feelings. I own them. I’m not blaming the contest winner for my lack of professionalism. I forgot to call Nora two Monday’s in a row. That’s 100% on me. I forgot to add reminders to my Smartphone…those little alarms that can be set to go off at set times before appointments…before scheduled calls. I flaked out. And, I’m sorry.
- I could have gotten a little stronger with Nora when I wasn’t getting calls back from her quickly. But, I didn’t.
- I could have asked for more help with the contest.. administering it…promoting it…etc. But, I didn’t.
- I could have taken a better look at what I had on my plate before taking on a contest like this all by myself. But, I didn’t.
The Reason For The Contest
One reason that I came up with the idea for this contest was that I wanted to promote my book. I also wanted to showcase my advisory services. I wanted to walk my readers-you-through the entire franchise business discovery, research, and purchasing process. Lots of people don’t know what it entails.
And, I want more women to get into franchising.
Lessons Learned
- I can’t do everything myself. Anymore. I need some help.
- I have to find a way to remember to add reminders to my phone.
- I need to be more organized.
- I have to remove time-wasting distractions.
- I need to plan things better.
- I need to say no a lot more.
- I need to hire someone to help me with my business.
And, Finally…
I’m sorry.
- To Nora; I should have done a better job communicating.
- To my sponsors; I let you down. I promised that you would get a lot of exposure. And, you really didn’t.
- To my readers; I hope that you don’t feel that I’m a total flake. I pride myself on doing what I say I’m going to do. And, I didn’t.
Below, I’ve provided links to my sponsor’s websites. Please click them…use their services. Use their knowledge. I chose them because they rock.
Franchise Contest Sponsors
- Franchise Direct
- bizSugar
- Small Biz Daily
- Palo Alto Software
- Corpnet
- Ignite-VP
- Rush on Business
- Matt About Business
- The Numbers Whisperer
- Carol Roth
