All About Franchising
Professor Cornwall provides links and commentary on a collection of material put together by Startup Journal and other sources. He expresses these additional considerations:
"Beyond the contractual issues that arise in franchising, there are some fundamental business and personal concerns that many franchisees experience after it is too late.
One of the biggest sources of frustration among franchisees is that they perceive that the value added they get from association with their franchisor diminishes over time.... Another concern expressed by franchisees is that with all of the rules and standardized procedures, they tend to feel more like an employee than a business owner...A financial risk to consider is that many first time entrepreneurs can only afford newer franchised concepts, since well established franchises can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy in. These start-up franchisors can begin to experience their own growing pains. Some don't survive. In some cases they may take the franchisees down with them.
It is critical to understand all of the ins and outs of franchising as a general business strategy first. Then if the idea of a buying a franchise still makes sense, do your homework on the company and its concept. All franchise opportunities are not created equal."
Read more in this post from The Entrepreneurial Mind.
