Franchising Is Getting Younger — Here's What's Changed | Entrepreneur

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As any business book or article will tell you, a key part of developing successful marketing and sales strategies stems from knowing your ideal customer avatar. Who are they? Where are they? What are their demographics? How can I put my products or services in the way of these sought-after individuals?

For much of my career as a franchising consultant, my avatar has been the same: business executives with decades of professional corporate experience under their belt who are ready to break out of the corporate machine. They’ve got experience, they built up some starting capital and they’re fed up with the status quo. All important and motivating attributes for potential entrepreneurs. Check, check and check.

This has meant that most of my candidates are Gen X with a few Boomers sprinkled in. And this makes sense — statistically, people who have more experience are more successful.

The former ‘franchise owner’ avatar

At 50+ years old with kids just out of the house (either about to go to college or just past college), ideal entrepreneurial candidates have seen a thing or two, know a thing or two and are ready to change a thing or two. When they seek me out, they are either in transition or they have noticed that they’ve reached a plateau. They’ve been successful because they’re smart and hard workers, but then they reach a point where their performance no longer translates to better outcomes. That’s been the primary catalyst for many of my candidates over the years to seek entrepreneurship.

But in just the past few years, I’ve seen a significant shift. I’ve noticed that a substantial portion of my franchise candidates have been getting younger. Rather than professionals in their 50s, I am working with more candidates in their 30s than ever before — In fact, my last candidate to launch a franchise was 33.

The entrepreneur avatar is getting younger

It used to be that a candidate in their 30s was an anomaly. Now it’s becoming increasingly common. So why the change? It seems that what used to take decades to reveal is rearing its head earlier: corporate instability.

As a Gen Xer myself, I remember the vast technological changes that took place seemingly overnight. For context, when I started at my first CPA job I was given a pencil and paper ledger. By year two, we were doing every tax return online. Talk about superspeed changes. Now, the pace of change has increased again.

I’m willing to bet that you’ve heard some derivative of “young people these days don’t stay with a job more than two years.” And, to a degree, this is true. But in comparing my new developing avatar against the standard, I’m noticing some interesting trends. From the get-go, millennials have been in this short corporate churn cycle. In many ways, they’re doing better financially. Why? The corporate economic cycles have shortened, and especially at lower levels, employees are subjected to ever faster management and positional changes. So, younger professionals are demanding more from employers to offset this instability. They aren’t playing the long game as much. They are more impatient and, because the pace of change has sped up, they are hitting these thresholds of discomfort much more quickly.

For example, in my career, rather than staying at a single job like my parents’ generation before, I worked at four companies in twenty-six years, averaging 6-7 years per company. Compare that to my recent 33-year-old candidate who has worked at four companies in the last ten years.

‘Job security is dead’

One of my younger candidates recently told me: “Job security is dead to me. The era of loyalty is over.” Despite the changes I’ve experienced personally, and my experience watching candidates become disillusioned with corporate America, this statement coming from such a young professional knocked me back.

People are hitting their trigger point in their early to mid-thirties, resulting in an exploration of opportunities earlier. Younger entrepreneurs may be less qualified financially, but are benefiting from lower barriers to entry in starting a business than any time in the past.

With institutions losing authority and prestige, young professionals want to seek new opportunities, but where to look? Breaking out is one thing, but once you’re in the melee, it becomes a real challenge to filter out the loud noise.

2 key questions

If you’re a young professional feeling the pressure of corporate instability — or just questioning your long-term path — it might be time to start thinking strategically about your next move. Here are two questions worth considering:

Are you exploring/thinking about your future exit? It may be coming faster than you think.
Barriers to entry are lower than ever. When the barriers come down, the noise factor explodes. Do you have a plan in place to filter through the opportunities in front of you? It may be worth speaking with a professional who’s been there.

While I certainly don’t think the franchise owner avatar will shift fully away from those with years of valuable corporate experience, young professionals who are ready to break into an entrepreneurial role should explore their options carefully – there’s a growing precedent for young people in business ownership.

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