The week after a layoff follows a script. Update the resume. Tell the network. Rebuild the LinkedIn profile. Start applying.
That script makes sense. It is also worth pausing for a single conversation before you commit the next year to it.
The Question Worth Asking First
Is this the right time to build something of your own?
Read that as an honest question rather than a nudge. Plenty of executives work through it and land on a corporate role, and that answer carries real value too. What matters is that ownership gets a fair hearing while you still have severance, energy, and room to think.
Six months into a search, with savings thinner and confidence bruised, is a harder place to weigh a decision this size.
What Makes This Moment Different
For most of the last thirty years, the answer for an executive between roles was simple. Find the next seat. That answer still works. It has grown more fragile.
AI is reshaping which roles exist, and the reshaping is ongoing. Layers of management are thinning. Searches at the senior level run longer than they used to. The role you land may be shorter than the one you left.
What the Process Actually Looks Like
Here is the honest version, with the hype removed.
- We talk about your life. Goals, family, capital, timeline, and how much risk sits comfortably with you.
- We build a picture of what fits. Hours, team size, customer type, investment level, and the kind of work you want in your day.
- I bring you a short list. Three to five brands, chosen against that picture.
- You meet the franchisors and talk with owners already running the business. Their answers matter most.
- You review the disclosure document with an attorney and the numbers with an accountant.
- You decide, in either direction, with a clear head.
Most people move through this in sixty to a hundred twenty days. Some take two years. I stay engaged either way, because the right decision matters more than a fast one.
What It Costs You
The consulting is free to you. Franchisors compensate my firm when a client finds a fit. You keep your time, your options, and your right to walk away at any point.
That arrangement lets me stay patient, and patience is most of what this decision requires.
Running Both Tracks at the Same Time
Most of my clients keep searching while they explore. That is the sensible way to do it. A job offer and a franchise decision can sit side by side while you gather information on both.
Some of the executives I work with take a corporate role in the end. I support that fully, and I stay in touch, because the question often comes back around in a few years with a different answer.
Where This Leaves You
You have earned the right to look at every option in front of you. One conversation is a small price for making sure you did.
If you want to think it through with someone who has guided this decision many times, I am glad to help with that.