I’m 25 and want to become a franchisee. Could my age count against me?

Brian Duckett writes:

All franchisors have what they call an ideal franchisee profile. This is a list of characteristics and qualities they seek in potential franchisees, with columns for which are must haves, which are good to haves, which are neutral and which are definite disqualifiers. Therefore, your age could count against you with some franchisors, though it may be a positive asset with others. But let me give my own experience.

When I was 25 I decided for various reasons that I wanted to run my own business and that the way to start was to become a franchisee. The biggest challenge most people have at that stage of their life is that they won’t have enough money, or the ability to borrow it, to enable them to pay the upfront fees and set-up costs for many franchises. Nor will they be able to generate the working capital to pay necessary overheads and keep their personal life going while the business grows.

That was my situation too, but what I did have was the energy and enthusiasm to build a low cost, low overhead, work-from-home mobile service business. Obviously, that reduced the number of franchises I could consider - and the number of those that would consider me - but I found one and eventually went on to become part-owner and managing director of the franchisor business. There’s no reason why other 25 year olds cannot do that.

Brian Duckett is chairman of The Franchising Centre, part of the world’s largest network of specialist franchise consultants.