by Devan Kline
Entrepreneurship is hot right now. The term itself has become a buzzword made popular by business influencers who’ve succeeded at the highest level. The idea of financial freedom, high risk, and disruptive business ideas that change the world make the thought of entrepreneurship extremely attractive to many people, right?
Not so fast. If you asked thoroughbred entrepreneurs how they would define this style of business building, they’ll often have a significantly different interpretations.
What does entrepreneurship take?
As a proven serial entrepreneur who’s turned dumbbells in a parking lot into an $80 million fitness franchise, I would explain entrepreneurship like this:
Entrepreneurship is like building a skyscraper for 15-18 hours a day, using your bare hands.
Entrepreneurs can create a precise vision—the mega-building—knowing that they won’t get paid until the building is complete and they begin filling it with tenants. It takes years to build, with no expectations other than knowing that the building will change the world—despite what others may say.
Entrepreneurship is like building a skyscraper for 15-18 hours a day, using your bare hands.
In America, 96% of small businesses fail after five years. That means only 4% are still standing. Of that 4%, only 10% are standing after the 10-year mark. Keep in mind that “still standing” doesn’t mean they’re making any profit for themselves. Entrepreneurship is a sport where 9.9/10 players end up getting cut.
If you’re ready to take a massive risk, face uncertainty, and put in years of grinding, know that your payoff could be huge!
Commit to being an anomaly, I encourage you to go for it!
If this picture we’re painting doesn’t look as pretty to you as it does on the cover of Forbes, Fast Company, and Business Insider, then keep reading and I’ll make the game winnable for you!
Let me introduce you to a concept called intrapreneurship.
What is intrapreneurship?
If you’ve heard this term before, it often refers to an employee working for a corporation and hustling their way to the top. Although I believe in an entrepreneurial mentality within a corporation, I disagree that this is true intrapreneurship.
By all means, if you’re not willing to eat dirt and deal with problems all day, you belong in an organization as an employee. Intrapreneurship is simply structured entrepreneurship in the form of a partnership with a brand, otherwise known as franchising.
Why intrapreneurship?
Every franchise was started by an entrepreneur—someone who laid it all on the line to bring a product or service to the world. In a franchise brand you’re not working for anyone, but rather partnering with leaders and becoming your very own business owner.
Where does my definition of intrapreneurship come from? You’re an “entrepreneur” who works “inside” of a framework. If you were to ask the most successful investors in the world to sum up their strategy, a large majority would say “asymmetrical risk-reward.” This means getting the maximum amount of upside while reducing the downside as much as possible.
The business starts and stops with you. You have the same opportunity to create financial freedom and live life on your own terms without all of the risk and uncertainty that comes with starting from scratch.
Is intrapreneurship opportunity right for you?
I have few points you may want to consider when choosing a brand to partner with.
1. What is your passion? What would you like to wake up and do every day that wouldn’t feel like a job? For example, if you’re passionate about fitness, investing in a barbershop probably won’t bode well for you long term! Follow your heart first and the money will come.
2. Find a brand with stellar leadership. Take your time, do your research, and get to know the person driving the brand. Often times private equity firms acquire brands and become very cold and sterile to their franchise owners. Instead of going in that direction, look for a brand that has created a family culture for its franchise partners and predicated impact to the world over dollars.
3. Find a brand with a raving fan culture. Eventually, we are all going to go through an economic downturn. The companies that thrive during these times are the ones who don’t just have clients, consumers, or customers, but those who create a culture of raving fans. Falling in love with a product or service is dangerous so ensure they meet the needs of their raving fans rather than their own.
4. Look for a brand that clearly markets themselves across various social channels. Business is two things: marketing and evolution. If you can’t find a large presence on a brand’s Facebook, Instagram, Google, YouTube, and/or blog, that’s a red flag!
If you want to make the move to intrapreneurship and you’re passionate about fitness, health, and impacting other people, Burn Boot Camp would love to consider bringing you on as a Franchise Partner! I have built Burn Boot Camp from one location in a parking lot to over 330 awarded territories in the United States in our first three years, and we exude everything I think a modern day intrapreneurship desires!
Follow your heart, and if it leads you to Burn Boot Camp, fill out this form and we will be in contact with you shortly!