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More than 500,000 workers have left the financial sector since the recession began. Many of them became franchisees.
A little over two years ago, Diaz was a different type of pinstripes man, traveling the world building customer service applications for Wall Street behemoth Merrill Lynch. But just months before America began Googling credit default swaps and underwater mortgages, Diaz sensed something in the water, and took a buyout. He traveled for a year, and when he returned home, he decided to do something many "sophisticated investors" on Wall Street might thumb their noses at--he bought a pet grooming franchise in Hudson County, N.J.
"My job at Merrill Lynch was very, very rewarding financially and personally," he says. "I did it for 20 years. But so far, I love dealing with doggies equally."
But most former bankers and Wall Street personnel are not your garden-variety franchisees. Though many are first-time business owners, they bring a unique skill set to the franchise world and in most cases have no problem easing into self-employment. Many have savings to invest and can circumvent the tight credit market; most have been steeped in numbers for decades and have a firm grasp of accounting and finance; some have built successful business plans for other companies; most have worked in an environment that demands a level of customer service any franchise system would envy.
"Generally, Wall Street people are self-motivated, risk takers, multitaskers and familiar with the way money flows into and out of a business," says Brian Miller, president of The Entrepreneur's Source business coaching franchise and a former Wall Street employee himself. "They bring a lot of passion to what they do. They will not accept Plan B and have a burn-the-ships mentality. That professional persistence bodes well for them."
Exile From Wall Street: From Finance to Franchisee
A little over two years ago, Diaz was a different type of pinstripes man, traveling the world building customer service applications for Wall Street behemoth Merrill Lynch. But just months before America began Googling credit default swaps and underwater mortgages, Diaz sensed something in the water, and took a buyout. He traveled for a year, and when he returned home, he decided to do something many "sophisticated investors" on Wall Street might thumb their noses at--he bought a pet grooming franchise in Hudson County, N.J.
"My job at Merrill Lynch was very, very rewarding financially and personally," he says. "I did it for 20 years. But so far, I love dealing with doggies equally."
But most former bankers and Wall Street personnel are not your garden-variety franchisees. Though many are first-time business owners, they bring a unique skill set to the franchise world and in most cases have no problem easing into self-employment. Many have savings to invest and can circumvent the tight credit market; most have been steeped in numbers for decades and have a firm grasp of accounting and finance; some have built successful business plans for other companies; most have worked in an environment that demands a level of customer service any franchise system would envy.
"Generally, Wall Street people are self-motivated, risk takers, multitaskers and familiar with the way money flows into and out of a business," says Brian Miller, president of The Entrepreneur's Source business coaching franchise and a former Wall Street employee himself. "They bring a lot of passion to what they do. They will not accept Plan B and have a burn-the-ships mentality. That professional persistence bodes well for them."
Exile From Wall Street: From Finance to Franchisee
