Can I buy a franchise as a side hustle?

Hey folks,

Sometimes I get on a call with someone to talk franchising, and I can tell they’re completely burnt out from their corporate job. 

Their phone won’t stop buzzing. They’re squeezing me in between 9 other meetings. Their Slack is lighting up like a slot machine. 

They’re looking for a way out.

So they come up with a plan: buy a franchise, keep the job, and let the business grow in the background until it replaces their income. Then quit the job and ride off into small business freedom.

The problem? 

A “side hustle” franchise almost never works the way they think it will.

Let’s walk through why.

The side hustle stall-out

This is the trap so many people fall into: what I call the negative feedback loop of part-time ownership.

Imagine this is you. 

You keep your corporate job, which keeps the bank balance up. But it means you can only be part-time in the business. That slows your business down. And because it’s growing slowly, it’s not generating enough income for you to quit the corporate job. So you keep the job a little longer.

Around and around it goes.

And unfortunately, this isn’t just a patience game.

Because with sluggish sales, employees waiting on decisions, an overworked owner (you) who’s too exhausted to keep up… your business eventually stalls out. 

Then you’re stuck in no man’s land. You’re not making enough from the business to leave the job, but too drained by the job to grow the business.

There’s a better way.

The better way: Build first, step back later

Most people try to do this because they’re worried about personal cash flow. Totally fair concern. But I help folks solve this in two better ways:

Option 1: Live off savings.
Not sexy. But it’s intuitive. You know exactly what it means.

Option 2: Pay yourself a salary from the business from Day One.
This is my preferred path.

You’d pay a general manager, right? So pay yourself that GM salary. It’ll probably be a pay cut from your current job — but it forces discipline. 

Two benefits: the business has to bake in that salary from the start, and it keeps the lights on at home.

Eventually, as the business grows, you can choose:

• Keep the salary and take the dividends too

• Hire a manager, step back, and live off the cash flow

But the key here? You built the business first. Then you stepped back.

The side hustle mindset is risky

It’s not just a strategy problem. It’s a mindset problem too.

When you plan to start a business as a side hustle, you start picking from only a narrow set of franchises that “allow” absentee ownership. Even if they’re not the right fit.

And sure, some franchisors will say, “we allow you to own this as a side hustle.” 

But just because you can do it, doesn’t mean you should.

The real danger is this: when you’ve got the safety net of your job, you might take the business less seriously. You’re not as prudent. You might skip diligence. Ignore red flags. Rush into a brand you don’t really believe in… because you don’t need it to work.

That lack of pressure might feel safe. But it leads to bad decisions.

Other options 

If full-time from Day One isn’t feasible, here are a few workarounds I’ve seen work:

• Spouse-run model: One spouse keeps the job, the other runs the business. It’s still “owner-operated”, just not by you personally.
  

• Overcapitalization: If you’re sitting on a chunk of cash, you can overinvest up front and build a stronger team + marketing engine from day one.
  

• Salary-backed SBA loan: As long as your projections support it, you can often pencil in your salary as part of your SBA loan structure.

There are other ways to de-risk the leap. But trying to hedge your bet by keeping your job can create more risk, not less.

So if you’re tempted to play it safe with a side hustle setup… just remember:

It’s a longer road, and often a riskier one.

If you can afford to go full-time, even with a temporary pay cut, that’s usually the faster, better, and more successful path.

If you’re ready to dig in and pick the right franchise model from the start, I’d love to help. Grab my full library of franchise breakdowns here or hop on a free strategy call with me here.

Let’s find you something that’s worth going all-in on.

Talk soon,
Connor

Ready for the next step? Here are 3 ways I can help you: