Is it OK to be emotional in doing business?

[Eris T.]

Hello everyone, I go by Eris. I own a franchise business for almost 3 years now. Recently, I've had a tough time working with people. I know part of it is my problem but I don't know how wrong I am. People keep saying business is business, you shouldn't let your emotions affect your decisions. Should it really be like this at all times? After all, humans are not as rational as we think we are; and our decisions are mostly driven by our emotions though we may not notice it. 

Let me provide you with the story.

I have a 5-yr lease with my current location. A new LL bought the building in 2017 and would like to demolish the space I'm in to turn it into a garage. I accepted his offer. By then I still had 8-yrs operating rights with the franchise business. So I either quit or relocate. I put $200k (still have $100k debt) into this business when I started it in 2016. This business had provide me with a good income but at the same time I am exhausted. It is not unusually that I have to work 13+ hours each day or over 60 hours per week. I know I don't want to do it by myself if I relocate. For one reason, I'm really tired. For another, the market is getting more competitive (Other business owners saw my success and opened up similar businesses around me. My sales are declining. ) and I would like to have someone to share the risk. 

Long story short, another franchisee (let's call him O) found me and offered to buy off my operating rights and equipment since I put words out there that I wanted to sale them. However, I thought it would be a great learning experience (I've never had a business partner) if we can partner up.  So we did. Later on, he brought one more guy (one of his current partner, let's call him M) on board, then this guy brought a third guy (they want him to be the operator, let's call him N). We have four people now and I'm the only female. Everything was cool until recently. 

Last week, our franchise corporate sent an inspector to audit my store (a routine they do every year to make sure we are complied with the company guidelines/requirements). I failed (with a score of 72.48) and was issued a violation notice with $600 fine ($300 for failing and $300 for the violation). I've been operating the same way for the past 2 years and I was in the high 80's. This inspector emailed me his report. I look through it and found that some of the points were taken off unreasonably as though he failed me on purpose. I admit that I altered the formula on 3 drinks a little so I take my responsibility for the violation but not the failing grade. I tried to communicate with him (I involve the whole corporate team on this as well) and reasoned why he should not take points off for some of the criteria. I should have got at least 3 points back (which then I would have pass-74 to pass) but he refused. Another store got audit at the same time, I called the owner and he is doing the same thing I am. However, the inspector didn't take points off from their report! I was (still a little) so frustrated and mad! No one on the corporate side seems to care about this. 

I told my partners that I don't want to work with this company any more. Later in the night, one of them called me and we chatted. Then he concluded, "You are too emotional and I don't think you are a good fit for this partnership. For us business is business, and we guys are ruthless when it comes to business." There ends the partnership. I'm OK with that since for the past few weeks, I've found them unproductive and unprofessional, yet they want to take the lead on everything. For example:

1. M worked solely on the new location lease (he started it before we partner up so it's cool with me) but he failed to communicate with us after we partner up. He negotiated free rents for two months which started on Sep 1. Yet we signed the lease on Sep 15!

2. M formed a LLC for us yet he didn't follow the requirements of the corporate and we had to file an amendment.

3. O was supposed to submit a check to corporate but he didn't. He told M but not me. M submitted the check but put the wrong Payee. So he had to write another one.

I admit that I don't work well with males in general and I need to improve this. However, this partnership is not going well as you can see from the examples above. In addition, for the inspector situation, I'm speaking up for myself since I wasn't treated fairly. I was hoping my partners would support me but they didn't. 

Am I too emotional? From the business perspective, yes the franchise can bring a good income but it isn't lucrative. From my personal view, I don't want to be loyalty to a company that doesn't care about their franchisees and just tries to rip them off.

Thank you for your time! Thank you for providing a space to share my story.

[Art Bridgeman]

Emotional Intelligence can be increased through effort. You are correct, we all have emotions to some extent, but others do not bring it into business because they have a higher emotional intelligence that they have worked on or it comes naturally. Franchises are difficult because you agree to follow the franchise agreement and you broke it by changing the formula. Since you owned that decision, you should let it go, pay the fine, and move on. Do not focus on the other franchisee that is getting away with it, this will not change your outlook in anyway. Focus on yourself. Bigger Pockets is a real estate forum, but most of your question is directed at your experience with partnerships which is applicable to real estate. Real Estate has bad actors and great people. Networking is critical. You will have to work on your soft skills and working past being introverted when it comes to dealing with people. You have also found yourself in a bad partnership. End it as soon as possible with the least amount of cost to you and your business. Selling your franchise is what I would do if I am not energized by my business every morning and excited to compete with the other competitors that are opening up. I had a friend open up Nail Salons in the early 1990's and made great money, then competitors opened up in almost every strip mall and the prices dropped. He sold everything and moved on to something that energized him every morning. The Nail Salon business was draining him so he made the personal decision to move on. He makes more in his new business than he ever did as a Nail Salon owner. Only you can decide what to do in the end. You have the ultimate power over your partners and franchisor. You can sell and move on or stick it out, either way, you make the decision for yourself. The franchisor and your partners can't make it for you.