1) Being a Dictator If you have spent a significant amount of time in the C-suite, you are probably used to making a lot of decisions—and having everyone immediately begin executing. This probably won’t fly when you are franchise restaurant owner. As an owner, you will be buying into a system that has been proven to work. Everything from interior design decisions to the makeup of your menu will have been vetted. And even though you might want to do it differently, you will need to follow the proven plan to support and build the overall brand of the franchise. 2) Holing Up Sometimes the best way to get work done is to shut your door, forward your phone, and hole up in your office for hours at a time. You won’t be able to do that if you take advantage of one of the restaurant franchise opportunities in your area. In contrast, you’ll be getting quite a bit of face time with the public—and they won’t always be kind. Customers can be rude, crude, strange, and incredibly demanding. Your job, as the franchise owner, will be to keep them happy and coming back for more. And you can’t do that if you are locked away in your office. 3) Jumping Ship One of the great things about living in the United States is the freedom to jump from job to job as often as you’d like. You can change jobs for money, for lifestyle, or for geographic reasons. But when you own a restaurant franchise, you’re probably not going anywhere. If you are considering taking advantage of restaurant franchise opportunities, consider it a long-term investment that you will have the opportunity to be a part of for years. If you do decide you want to jump ship (for any reason), you’ll likely have to go through the process of finding another qualified and approved buyer. 4) Get Out of Town In the corporate world (or even if you are an entrepreneur), you might have the ability to get out of town on short notice. Hear the call of the Great Outdoors? No problem—take Friday off and be back to work Monday morning without missing a beat. That doesn’t happen too often when you own a restaurant franchise. You’re going to need to be at work—almost every day. This is especially true when you first open. But the great thing about owning a franchise is that you can delegate tasks and be as present or absent as you’d like as long as your business is running smoothly. 5) Coasting Sometimes it’s nice to just come into the office and take it easy. Maybe you check some emails and surf the Internet looking for industry-related news. That’s called coasting, and it’s something you won’t be able to do—not even for a day—when you own a food franchise.