This Top-Performing Franchise Owner Shares His Success Tips
AtWork franchise owner Jerry Bland will be the first to tell you that financial independence isn’t easy to achieve. “There are no shortcuts,” he says. “Owning a business and becoming financially independent requires a lot of energy and focus, and you need to operate at your best each day.”
The Move to Franchise Ownership
After a 23-year career in sales and distribution leadership in the wireless telecom industry, the single father of two daughters decided to try his hand at business ownership. He chose franchising because it allowed him to easily switch industries. “Franchising provided me with the play book and the proven system and resources necessary to compete in the marketplace effectively. I could enter an industry I hadn’t grown up in.”
After some investigating into different franchise opportunities, Bland decided on AtWork Personnel, a national staffing franchise that concentrates on filling temporary, temp-to-hire, and direct hire positions for clients across a variety of industries. For Bland, the business checked all his boxes. “It aligned with my skills and what I was looking for: no working on weekends, no overnight travel, low cost of entry, payroll funding, systems/back-office support, flexibility, good territory sizes and availability for multi-unit offices,” he says. “Most importantly, AtWork has a great culture with training and an engaged leadership team.”
Bland opened his Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C., business in February 2018 and has found it both challenging and rewarding. “My business is staffing, so finding the right skilled, multitasking, passionate people who thrive on helping change the lives of others isn’t easy,” he says. “People always ask, ‘How do you find people in midst of Covid?’ I tell them if it was easy, everyone would be doing it,” he says.
Financial Independence
For Bland, financial independence means being in full control of his time and income. “You control the decision-making, direction, expectations, activities, time management, and the many other things you chose to do that define your business and the trajectory it takes,” he says. ”Your success or failure becomes a direct reflection of you and the people who you surround yourself with.
Success Tips for AtWork Franchise Ownership
Jerry Bland is a top-performing franchise owner with AtWork. While he admits his success didn’t come easily, he says anyone can get there with the right mindset and a systematic approach. Below, Bland shares his franchisee success tips, which he says are simple but significant.
- Use Time Wisely: Time management has been the foundation for Jerry Bland’s success with his AtWork Personnel staffing franchise.
- Set Expectations: Bland recommends discussing the short-term sacrifices required to launch the business and setting expectations with your family, and then really looking at what that means in terms of your time and schedule.
- Strive for Work-Life Balance: Ensure you plan important time spent outside of work to have balance.
- Prioritize Wellness: Get enough sleep each night, eat healthy foods and exercise.
- Be a Planner: Have a plan for your business and personal life. Share it with your staff and family along with a progress report and the activities and sacrifices required to achieve your objectives (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annually).
- Invest in Good Employees: Hire the right people in the right situation and invest in them early on: don’t settle or cut corners. Keep them invested.
- Take Time to Network: Network and build relationships with successful people.
- Make a Financial Plan: Ensure you have a financial plan and work through that plan with an accounting professional quarterly and annually, making adjustments along the way.
AtWork Franchise Opportunity
For more information about the AtWork franchise opportunity, visit https://www.atwork.com/franchise or email Ben Hubbard at bhubbard@atwork.com.