We’re all familiar with franchises. For example, Chick-fil-A is a multimillion- dollar franchise. What you may not realize about the chain is that it is, in essence, run by high school students. Why is that important?
Let’s break it down.
These are high school kids, which means they generally have little business knowledge or expertise. They have no real experience. And they make minimum wage.
This is the workforce behind this incredibly successful franchise!
How is this even possible? It works because there is a consistent and duplicable system in place.
There are only a few things this teenaged workforce is asked to do:
That’s it. They keep it simple. They make it hard to mess up. And their system does the rest. These teenagers turn on the equipment that produces the food and collects the money. They can make the meals and receive payments properly by using the system that has been set up for them.
This system and its ease of duplication have created a predictable and enjoyable experience for customers. Contrary to public belief, Chick-fil-A’s primary product is not their chicken sandwiches—it’s that consistently positive experience.
Customers choose to go to Chick-fil-A time and time again because of their consistency and predictability. We know exactly what to expect every time.
What about your business? It should be no different. Your marketing system should be designed to establish value and build residual income.
You see, true wealth is not simply accumulated via the traditional way of doing business. If it were, everyone who is in business would be wealthy.
To take it a step further, maximizing your success and ensuring that your business makes residual profits whether or not you sell another one of your products is true success that results in wealth.
Your business should consist of three overlapping parts, with your primary product or service coming last instead of first.
That’s right—your primary product needs to come last. I know it’s a difficult concept, but if you will hear me out I think you’ll agree and wonder why you haven’t considered this before. The three parts of your marketing system should be as follows:
1. You need a low-cost (under $25.00), high-volume retail product that ultimately funds your marketing costs, reduces your expenses and provides you with a steady stream of leads within your target audience for your product or service. This retail product is what actually sells parts two and three.
2. Part two is a medium cost ($26.00—$500.00) backend product that produces real income. This is your monthly, dependable income stream that can be used to pay the bills, invest or expand. This product sells part three.
3. The final part is an affiliate revenue-sharing opportunity that creates long-term residual income through small monthly recurring purchases made by a substantial distribution channel.
In my opinion, most small businesses go after this completely backwards. They start with part two and spend themselves out of business. The average startup or businessperson has no way to create enough income quickly enough to pay for their expenses and learning curve, let alone a full-time income.
Don’t believe me? Do a little research and see what percentages of business startups fail. Some sources estimate that over the course of 10 years, 99 out of 100 will fail. That’s not very good odds.
Remember Einstein’s definition of insanity?
“Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
If we do things the way they have always been done, we are going to get the same result. If we want what we have never had, we have to be willing to do what we have never done.
Embrace change!
Break free from tradition.
Does my model work? Absolutely! Want proof? All right.
So, what do you think? Is Chick-fil-A in the chicken sandwich business? If you said yes, you’d be wrong.
Chick-fil-A isn’t in the chicken sandwich business. They could never be in the chicken sandwich business; they’d fail. Why? There is no profit there—store managers have told me they break even on the sandwiches. The chicken sandwiches serve one purpose and one purpose only—to provide you with a healthier alternative to fast food hamburger joints and to get you in the door, so you will spend your hard-earned money on sugar water, French fries and dessert (which all have huge profit margins).
You see, Chick-fil-A is not in the chicken sandwich business; they are in the business of sugar water, French fries and dessert!
Or look at Subway. Sandwich business? Nope. Think again. They are in the weight loss business. If you don’t believe me, watch their commercials and listen to Jared; he’ll tell you. In fact, when Subway dropped Jared’s ads due to fears of overexposure, their sales dropped as well, so they quickly rehired him.
Subway gets you to come in for a low-fat sandwich and then sells you their high-profit sodas and chips.
Do you still think your main product or service is your business? Not if you’re creating a successful, consistent and duplicable system—a franchise.
In order to turn your business, product and services into a true franchise and produce residual income, you need to understand and make sure you have the following components in place.
A quality Web site: This will make or break you. A properly designed Web site will work for you 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year. It will enable you to make money even while you’re sleeping.
A prospect generator: This