• Expert Advice

Franchising As An Alternative To University

“Allowing your child to study full time is a waste of your hard-earned money.”  This is the advice my father received from his Auditor when I was studying many moons ago.  Today, my own child is on the brink of life outside high school which raises the question of what is the best investment I can make in my child’s future.  Is there an alternative to university and what does it consist of?

Rock Star Entrepreneur vs Academic

Buying a franchise for my son as opposed to sending him to university might sound absurd to the general public, but rock star entrepreneurs are not born from general perceptions and I would like to believe that my son falls outside the bracket of average children.  So how do I spend my money as best as possible in my effort to assist him in generating future wealth?

Learning In The Thick Of Things

It comes as no surprise that your child is your number one priority. Or at least that is true for most parents.  Assisting them in their quest to become financially secure is an important part of parenting.  We are however not born equal and not all children are academic geniuses who plan on becoming Doctors, Attorneys, or Chartered Accountants.  For some the world of entrepreneurship lies wide open and where better to learn about entrepreneurship than while you are in the thick of things? If you are not open to new ideas of an alternative to university, your child might just become one more statistic in the university failure rate.

Step-Down Or Step-Up

Sean Williamson* has spent around R430,000 on his son’s education in tourism to date.  His son is currently a third-year tourism student with no immediate job opportunities.  Once he becomes lucky enough to get a job, his starting salary will be just above minimum wage.  “People are so set on sending their children to varsity, that they often overlook the massive opportunities that are available from an industry as humble as franchising,” says Eric Parker, co-founder of Nando’s and franchising consultant at Franchising Plus. “My family organized an intervention when they saw me slaving away in the first store of Nando’s.  At that stage I left my position as Marketing Manager at KFC to join the Nando’s founding team and to them, working in a fast-food outlet was a serious step-down.”

The Flawed Higher Education System

How would our children’s futures look like if parents and children and the entire ecosystem that we live in, start realizing that there are so much more alternatives to our children’s future than sending them to university? In a statement made by Minister of Higher Education, Blade Nzimande earlier this year, the university drop-out rate is as high as 50-60% in the first year alone and that only 4% of people starting their degree complete it.

Unemployment Is Real

In the past, getting a degree would have meant that you have a better chance of getting a job, and a good one at that. Graduates around the country are losing hope of finding employment and are making up a majority of the 35.3% unemployment rate.  And yes, there are many factors such as choice of study that influence this statistic.  Unfortunately, people still study degrees where the need is low and tertiary institutions, especially private tertiary institutions only focus on the income potential for their own purses. This makes it even more important for parents to consider franchising as an alternative to university.

Not All Degrees Are Created Equal

I can hear you say that we still need the Doctors, Engineers, Chartered Accountants, and the rest of the professional qualifications on offer. Yes, that is all true.  It is however important to consider that there are certain qualifications where you could have studied part-time while running your franchise.  Or you could consider establishing your business first and then branching out into the academic scene.  The idea is to move away from the mindset that there is no other alternative to university for our children straight out of school.

The Wrong Way Round at KFC

Eric Parker adds that when he moved to KFC, he should have rather bought a franchise as opposed to taking up the position of Marketing Director.  It is however so incredibly human to choose the option of big titles, fancy offices, and a lavish company car over the opportunity of being an entrepreneur.  “Those KFC franchisees are printing money,” explains Eric.  “This is a wrong that I do believe I managed to turn around when I decided to take up the challenge and founded Nando’s with Robbie Brozin.”

Why A Students Work For C Students

Robert Kiyosaki’s book ‘Why A students work for C students, and B students work for the government’ shed a little light on the subject of whether you should consider buying your child a franchise as opposed to sending them off to varsity.  If your child is interested in entrepreneurship, a degree is not the route to go.  In fact, most rock star entrepreneurs did not complete their tertiary studies and a number of them did not even contemplate university studies.  Richard Branson is a very typical entrepreneur famous for dropping out of high school.  Yes, Branson would probably not make an ideal franchisee, but definitely scores a point for the straight-into-business vs going to university camp.

Kiyosaki furthermore takes the angle that the ‘C’ students who are not academically inclined are the ones that will probably work harder, take more risks, and definitely do not follow the crowd.  Society has a lot of rules and norms. Some are good and necessary, but many norms keep us from thinking outside of the box and hinder the development of our own unique ideas and journeys.

Option To Fast Tracking Your Child’s Future

It is common knowledge that spoilt children do not tend to become roaring successes. And buying a franchise for him or her straight out of school might not be the best course of action. You might want to instead purchase a franchise as a family unit which they can join and work as an understudy before venturing into their own franchise. Or you could motivate them to get practical experience elsewhere, while you save the money which you would have wasted on university fees, to assist them with a loan later. It is all about the idea of keeping an open mind that there are alternatives to university.

An Open Mind Is All It Takes

When it comes to my son and his future, I do believe that I will do him a favour if I relook at what society dictates and have an open mind as to the value that buying a franchise with or for him will add to his life and his wealth.  In the end, the ball is in his court as to whether he has got what it takes to be a successful franchisee and entrepreneur.  Whatever I do, I will have the satisfaction that I gave him the option to choose for himself.  Eleonor Roosevelt once said: “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” If I give my son more alternatives other than university studies, I do believe I have fulfilled my duty in opening up his future success.

*The real identity is protected.