There are many reasons why a businessman may decide to put his business up for sale. It could be that he has planned to live a quieter life, or it could be that there is nobody who seems trustworthy enough to manage the business. A man in his sixties may have all of his children leading their own lives and there might not be someone in the family who take over once he retires. A businessman may also decide to shift to another line of business because he has discovered a new passion or simply because he is looking for more challenges. For any of these reasons and more, selling a business can be a practical option.

If you are contemplating putting your business up for sale, this could be one of the most important decisions you’ll have to make. There also many reasons for this. If you think that you may no longer be able to keep the business operating on a competitive level, it is much better to admit this fact rather than to keep ignoring it and letting the business suffer. Instead of waiting for a time when your funds have completely run out, you can just decide to have another person or company take over so you don’t have to lose money and you will even gain more from a sale. Decisiveness is a key factor when you decide to let go of that business. If you think that it is better off handled by others who may be more capable, then acknowledge this and move forward.

Of course, if you are going to sell something, be it a merchandise or the whole business itself, you have to make sure that it is something that people would even take a second look at. In other words, prepare your business in such a way that it will become attractive to prospective buyers. Who wants to buy a restaurant with non-functional equipment or a shabby dining area? Who wants to buy a business whose financial books are not in order? Who wants to buy a business that is currently in a legal tussle with the law because of tax-related cases? These are some of the most important things you have to straighten out in order for you to attract good potential buyers.

Another important step you can take when you decide to sell your business is for you to hire a broker who knows the ins and outs of the industry. You don’t have to rely complete on yourself when it comes to marketing your business. You have to trust the professionals to do it. After all, they have the right machinery to get you the best deal possible. You should look for business brokers who are not only certified but also affiliated with important groups or organizations in your state. This will definitely secure you a good deal with a good business buyer.

Numerous conference call companies are available and the price of the service continues to decrease. You don’t have to reserve meeting rooms or restaurant reservations. Obviously there is no need to travel so that is a significant cost saving. Conference call systems are cheap, as the bill will not be much more than a normal telephone call. So taking all that into account you can save a lot of money and to be honest I’ve travelled extensively throughout my career and I’m getting to the stage where I detest having to travel for meetings.

I know I’m not breaking any boundaries by extolling the virtues of conference calling. But I really couldn’t live without them so I thought I’d post something here.

If you’re looking for the safest way to expand or diversify a business, it’s franchising.

Now if that’s true, why do so many people fear franchising?

Since its beginning in the late 1800s, and with its post World War II expansion especially in the United States, franchising has developed one of the greatest business success stories of all time. Main Street America is populated by franchise outlets. From restaurants to specialty food shops, bookstores to clothing stores, beauty shops to postal centers, and a plethora of service providers, including carpet cleaners, auto shops and home remodelers, franchising is everywhere. Franchise businesses take in 40 percent of all retail sales in the United States.

There are some 2,000+ franchise companies supporting more than 900,000 franchised outlets in America. Countless people have become wealthy through franchising, and there are no financial or educational barriers to keep anyone from using this concept successfully. Governments around the world, and especially in the United States, have made it possible for the average person to investigate franchising and predict the outcome of a franchise investment. University studies, government statistics, and even polls by the Gallop Organization support the success of franchising.

So what’s to fear about franchising?

Critics say there are plenty of things to scare you away from the concept. Listen to the critics-some of whom failed in franchising and therefore believe they have the “credentials” to be critics–and they’ll tell you all the horror stories about franchising. Of course, there are horror stories about businesses of all kinds, yet only a misinformed person would say that owning a business is bad. Anyone who is willing to believe franchise critics, without doing their own homework, is probably better off fearing franchising. They’d also be better off not owning a business of any kind!

Fear is normal among business owners. Few people succeed without at least some fear. People like a little fear-they find it motivating. The greater the fear, the harder they work! Fear is only a problem when it stops you dead in your tracks. If you were so fearful of franchising that you couldn’t make a decision to buy one, that could be a mistake. However, that’s not to say that franchising is for everyone. It’s not. In fact, it may not be for you. But how will you know unless you move beyond your fear?

Let’s look at a few of the objections posed by franchise critics. Their information is not all wrong. It’s just not entirely accurate. And much of it decries simple common sense. They want people to believe that franchising is evil when, in fact, countless people will tell you that franchising helped them climb to greater levels of satisfaction and profit through their businesses. Franchising in America has helped tens of thousands of business owners become more successful.

Of all the franchise companies operating in the United States, some are better than others, but they are not all bad. Of all the franchisees in the United States, some are more profitable than others, but they are not all struggling for survival or even at odds with their franchisor, as some critics would have you believe. A little bit of investigation will show anyone who’s interested that there’s more good than evil in franchising.

Critics of franchising–including some misinformed legislators, educators, attorneys, accountants, reporters, and others who may have personal agendas-frequently miss the point about the success of franchising. Here’s the first complaint from many of them:

“The franchisor will make you pay a fee–upfront.”

That’s true. And let me quickly point out that these fees are sometimes hefty, up to $50,000 (though many cost less than $20,000). Critics say these fees are inflated and often unnecessary. They’ll have you think you can start a business independent of a franchisor without paying an upfront fee. And perhaps you can.

So why do franchisors charge franchise fees? If they didn’t have to, they wouldn’t! It would be a lot easier to sell franchises without an upfront fee. But franchise fees are necessary for several good reasons.

First, the franchise fee helps the franchisor recover money invested to start-up and maintain the franchise network. A franchise start-up can easily cost millions of dollars, and the ongoing legal, administrative, and operational costs can be staggering. A well-advised franchisor understands that break-even may be years away, requiring a specific number of franchises to be sold and supported. There’s a cost to franchising, just as there is to any product or service that’s sold. Surely it’s easy to understand that a franchisor has a right to recover this money.

Ah, but does it have to be paid upfront? That’s the rub for many critics, as well as for many would-be investors. Yes, it has to be paid upfront, and for another good reason. Let’s say you’re asked to reveal all your trade secrets plus train someone how to operate your business. Are you willing to do that without a financial guarantee? Before you spill your beans, you’ll want some money upfront. So does a franchisor.

Think for a moment about the value of paying an upfront franchise fee. What’s it worth if a franchisor hands you an established business system, one that you can use to churn out a profit year after year? You don’t have to invent the system, or even test it. It’s already a proven, working system! What would it have cost you to invent this system, assuming that you could? What’s it worth if the franchisor not only gives you the system, but spends a couple of weeks or more training you to use it?

Now, if you already know how to build and expand a business you probably don’t need a franchisor. But what if you don’t know? Do you have the franchisor’s experience of site selection, personnel recruiting and development, training, sales and production, marketing, advertising, operations, and all other factors relative to a thriving business? Do you have the benefit of group buying power and name recognition? If not, then the franchisor’s business system alone-without the training and support-may very well justify the upfront franchise fee. Go out and ask people who failed as independent business owners if they wouldn’t have preferred to buy a franchisor’s expertise and guidance. Ask someone who has spent 60 to 80 hours a week in the same business for 25 years, struggling most of the time, if it wouldn’t have been worth it-years earlier-to pay a franchisor to show them how to accomplish success faster and bigger. What would that have done for their quality of life?

Yes, success does come with a price and it’s called a franchise fee, and it will be required upfront. Keep in mind, not all franchises are created equal. Some are better than others. Some have inflated their franchise fees and they do not deliver on what they promise. But with a little homework-asking questions of existing franchisees, for example-you can easily determine which franchises are worth an upfront fee.

Critics say: “You’ll have to pay the franchisor a royalty. Forever!”

Yes, you will. Not forever, but for as long as you remain a franchisee. Franchisors generally collect a weekly or monthly percentage of a franchisee’s gross sales. That’s their royalty. The percentage will range from several points to double digits. Generally, royalties are higher than 5% and less than 10%.

While franchise fees help franchisors recover dollars invested in the business system, royalties supplement the franchisor’s ongoing operating costs, and provide a profit. Accountants and lawyers, who are not necessarily critics of franchising, have advised clients not to buy franchises because they thought the royalty fee was unnecessary, or too high, or it would prevent the client from turning a profit. Let’s look at the facts.

Support is a primary reason for the success of franchised businesses. Why do so many non-franchised businesses go out of business? It’s not for lack of capital, even though under-capitalization is often an issue. However, there are many instances where the business owner had plenty of money. But he or she ran out of money trying to figure out how to turn a profit. Franchisees usually don’t face that issue. First, they are licensed to use a proven business system. Second, they get ongoing support from a coach-their franchisor. Just like athletes who benefit from a coach giving them encouragement as well as helping them improve their style and performance, business owners can also benefit from ongoing coaching. You might already be pretty good at running your business, but imagine what might happen if you had someone who could help you improve just a notch or two! That’s what good franchisors provide to franchisees.

Of course, good franchisors are well staffed. Operating a franchisor’s home office is a huge financial undertaking. Making the payroll for 30, 50 or more than 100 people requires cash flow. Where does the franchisor get the money? Royalties! Successful franchisees recognize the value of the franchisor’s training and field operations staffs. They come to appreciate the research and development people, the technical, financial, legal and media experts employed by the franchisor. Successful franchisees don’t quibble about paying a franchisor a percentage of their gross sales because they know it’s a good investment in their business. Again, not all franchisors are created equal. Some provide more value than others. Before you invest in a franchise, find out if your franchisor of choice delivers what you will need to be successful.

Critics say: “Owning a franchise is just like having a job. You’ve got to take orders from the franchisor. You’re not really in business for yourself. You’re like an indentured servant.”

Entrepreneurial people are difficult to train as franchisees. We value our right to make decisions. We cherish freedom. We do not like following orders. We want the right to do things our way, even if it’s the wrong way. If you don’t want to march to a franchisor’s drumbeat, do yourself and franchising a favor and do not buy a franchise. You may never become as successful as you had hoped, but buying a franchise won’t get you there, either.

Believe it or not, like it or not, consumers prefer the same old same old. Think about it for a moment. If you’ve patronized a particular business in the past-a restaurant, a beauty shop, a home decorator, the auto repair shop-and you were pleased with the results, would you return to that same business again and again? Of course you would. If you moved to another state and needed a particular service or product, would you patronize a business you never heard of, or look for one that you recognize? Once again, it’s an easy answer. You like knowing what you’re going to get before you buy it. You like familiarity, and franchisors and franchisees know that familiarity breeds more business.

Familiarity is one of the reasons franchised businesses succeed. Each one that’s successful follows a system. The system has been crafted to meet the needs of consumers and ultimately to produce a profit for the person who implements the system. That’s called franchising. When franchisees refuse or fail to implement the system, their business under-performs and may eventually fail. Requiring franchisees to follow a system makes good sense!

Most small business owners, including franchisees, have little expertise in running a business. They may have perfected a skill or a craft, but that’s not the same as running a business. To succeed in business, an operator needs a system-even more than money-to survive and succeed. The system is one of the primary reasons for investing in a franchise. You may not like a franchisor’s system, or parts of the system. You might not like the way the franchisor advertises, markets and sells its products and services. You might not like the franchisor’s dress code, or decorating scheme, or hours of operation. But you best not minimize or ignore the franchisor’s system, and you are required to implement it to a T. If you don’t follow the system, the franchisor has the right to disenfranchise you, and for the sake of the franchise network, the sooner the better. A renegade franchisee can destroy an entire company. Franchised businesses work because they are systematized.

If you don’t like that, or you don’t like systems, or you don’t want to follow another’s system, do not invest in a franchise! It’s not for you.

Don’t believe the argument that in every instance franchising is buying yourself a job. Do you know anyone who sold their job after they quit, or retired? You can’t sell a job, but you surely can sell your franchise business. And just imagine how valuable it may be. With a franchisor’s brand name and goodwill, the operating system, as well as marketing and sales systems, plus research and development and ongoing training and coaching, your business is likely to attract an enviable sales price. With a good franchise, you’ll have an asset than many people may want to buy.

And one more point about the nonsense of buying a job. Franchisors do not make all the decisions for franchisees. A franchisor doesn’t show up in a franchisee’s office or store every morning to motivate the staff, or even to hire and train the staff. Personnel decisions almost always belong to the franchisees. Customer and vendor relationships also remain the domain of franchisees. Franchisors provide instruction and coaching, but they do not do the work of the franchisee. Ultimately, it’s your hard work that builds a successful business. Even so, a good franchisor provides its franchisees with many opportunities to voice their opinions and to help shape the franchise business.

So if you’ve lost some of the fear you might have had about franchising, how would you go about finding a good franchise opportunity? There are many online resources that you can consult beginning with the International Franchise Association’s (IFA) site at Franchise.org. There are seminars produced by the International Franchise Expo–see FranchiseExpo.com–and there’s plenty of good reading material.

Perhaps the best resource is the franchisor’s disclosure document, which is required by federal law. Franchisors must give it to you free before you can invest in their franchise. Be sure to ask for it! It’s critical reading. The disclosure document is written in a layman’s language so it’s reasonably easy to understand. Almost everything you need to evaluate a franchise opportunity can be found in the disclosure document.

The document includes a description of the franchise, a list of all fees required, the franchisee’s obligations, the franchisor’s obligations, information about territory, restrictions on what the franchisee may sell, financial statements for the franchisor and even the franchisor’s litigation and bankruptcy history, if any. However, the single most important section of the disclosure document may be the list of the franchise outlets. There you will find contact information for existing as well as previous franchisees.

Armed with this information, get on the telephone and start doing some research. Call as many of the existing franchisees as you want-there’s no limit. Ask them whatever you want. For example, “Would you buy the franchise all over again, knowing what you know now?” . . . “Does the franchisor deliver on its promises?” . . . “How has the franchisor’s system helped you advance the growth and profit of your business?”

Critics will tell you that existing franchisees will lie to you because the franchisor pays them. But you should know that if the franchisor pays them for helping to sell a franchise, that information has to be disclosed. If you call a dozen to 20 or more franchisees, you’ll likely hear some negatives as well as positives about the business and the franchisor. Call enough franchisees to get a fair sampling. Stop calling when you feel you have enough information to evaluate the franchise opportunity.

Along with this research, you should also consult with a franchise attorney and an accountant that understands franchising. Rely on the IFA to lead you to good sources. You may need to investigate several franchises before you find a good one, and one that’s a right fit for you.

Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald’s, coined the phrase: Franchising is going into business for yourself, but not by yourself. That says it all. When you accept franchising for what it is, you accept the world’s most powerful system for building and expanding a business. If you explore what franchising offers, and thoroughly investigate the franchise opportunities of your choice before you invest, you can expect to succeed as a franchisee.

Will you succeed without fear? No. You’ll be afraid from time to time. But you ought to be scared to death to go into business without franchising!

Franchises are one of the fastest-growing types of businesses in the U.S. and can be purchased for as little as a few thousand dollars, to over a million dollars. There are franchises for all kinds of products and services—food, pet grooming, massage services, auto repair, etc. Although exact statistics are hard to find, they also tend to have a higher success rate than independent businesses that are not franchises.

Although franchises tend to have higher success rates, they also have risks , and can fail for any number of reasons like any other business. You must investigate Joe’s Restaurant Franchise just as thoroughly as Joe’s Local Diner before buying it. There are a number of great resources in addition to this article to help you determine if a franchise is the right way for you to go. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has some excellent resources , as do several other services like business brokerage websites. Enter “Is Franchising For Me” in any Internet search engine, and you’ll retrieve links to a large number of resources.

What is a Franchise?

The SBA resource I mentioned above offers the following definition for a franchise: A franchise is a legal and commercial relationship between the owner of a trademark, service mark, trade name or advertising symbol and an individual or group seeking the right to use that identification in a business. The franchise governs the method of conducting business between the two parties. Generally, a franchisee sells goods or services supplied by the franchisor or sells goods or services that meet the franchisor’s quality standards. As a business model, franchising is essentially a finance vehicle for expansion of the concept. You, the franchisee, finance the start up of the individual franchised unit and pay licensing and royalty fees to the franchisor. This is as opposed to the franchise company bearing the costs of opening its own units (many franchises do have company-owned stores along with franchised stores). The franchise agreement is a contract that governs the manner in which you will do business.

For the fees you pay, the franchisor licenses to you the use of the name of the business and provides other support. Typically there is a business operating system in place, contracts for products or services sold, equipment packages, store design packages, etc. Many franchisors will also arrange for financing relationships. Some franchisors supply the product directly and make money on the sale of that product to you. Such an arrangement usually reduces or eliminates the royalties you would otherwise pay. Typically, you will pay an upfront license fee and then pay ongoing royalties—usually as a percentage of your sales—plus contribute to regional and/or national advertising funds. The franchisor will hopefully provide business expertise as well—operations management, marketing, selecting locations—and should provide training, typically at their corporate headquarters for one to two weeks, plus training and support as you plan and get your franchise unit ready to open.

As a franchisee you own the business, but you are subject to the guidelines of the franchise agreement—products, store décor, uniforms, where product is purchased, certain advertising guidelines, etc. Franchising may be a good option if you prefer a business with existing brand recognition and defined processes you can follow, instead of creating the business from scratch on your own. The service and support offered by a franchisor varies from chain to chain—and may not always live up to your expectations. But the essence of the value of a franchise is the following:

• Existing brand value (unless brand new to the market)
• Existing operating system
• Existing product/service selection
• Supplier relationships (sometimes with favorable terms)
• Training
• Proven locations up and running based on the concept (unless brand new to the market)
• Cooperative advertising and cross-traffic with other franchisees

These things, like all things of value, have to be earned. In the case of a franchise, in addition to all the work you will have to do to be successful in any business, you have to pay the franchisor for the right to use their systems and trademarks. As noted above, this payment typically takes the form of an upfront “franchise license fee” and then a payment of ongoing royalties, plus a contribution to local and/or regional and national advertising funds. Upfront fees can be fairly nominal, like $5,000, or can be in the tens of thousands of dollars. Royalties (charged as a % of your revenue) vary by chain, but are often in the 5% – 8% range. Advertising contributions are also typically charged as a percentage of sales and can vary substantially, but typically range from 1% to 5%, with 3% – 4% being the most common in my experience. In addition to contributions to regional or national advertising funds, you will have to spend additional local marketing dollars to be a success—don’t assume you can rely on your percentage contributions to provide adequate marketing resources to make you a success.

What’s the Right Franchise?

Only you can answer that question, but some things to bear in mind are:

• What are your interests?
• How much capital do you have?
• Do you want to develop multiple units?
• What days or hours do you want to work?
• How easy is it to re-sell your franchise and what are the restrictions or costs from the franchisor?

The financial value a franchise brings to you is an important question to ask yourself. For example, if you are giving up 10% of your revenue in the form of 6% royalties and a 4% advertising co-op fee (which, in theory, comes back to your benefit in the form of marketing resources and advertising), you need to objectively assess what you get back for that 10%. 10% right off the top is a significant amount of money. Will you have a higher probability of success? Will you make more money on the bottom line in spite of the 10% expense? It may be simply that a franchise makes it possible for you to be in business for yourself because of your comfort level with an existing concept, versus trying to create your own. This is why many people go with a franchise, and it’s a good reason, but be sure you understand the financial costs and tradeoffs.

Brand Value

Once you are in the business and have some experience, the primary value (besides any ongoing support and training, which is usually minimal) is the equity of the brand you have franchised. A good franchisee is one who understands that the royalty % he or she is giving up each week is an investment in the brand equity of the chain. A brand that is consistent across its various units will tend to build a more positive reputation and therefore drive more customers—more revenue and more profits—to its franchisees. Think about McDonalds®, considered by many to be the model of a successful franchise system. Imagine if every McDonalds restaurant had a different menu with different products, inconsistent quality, and systems that were changed by every franchisee and therefore different. It would be impossible for the customer to know what to expect before they walked in, i.e., the brand “McDonalds” would have little or no value, sales would slide, stores would fail, and the chain wouldn’t be what it is today (we might have never even heard of it!). By insisting that its franchisees conform to the principles of the brand, i.e., create consistency according to high standards, McDonalds and its franchisees have generally thrived (NOTE: this is not an endorsement of McDonalds, nor is it a prediction of success with a McDonalds franchise. It is only the conclusions of an industry observer and, admittedly, long term customer!). Franchisees that do not conform to the system are destroying their own investment by undermining consistency and therefore the brand. The difficult role of a franchisee is to be independent enough to be capable of owning your own business, but understanding at the same time that you are part of a larger system to which you need to contribute value (i.e., conformity and consistency) in order to be successful yourself.

Master Franchising

I’ll only touch briefly on master franchising, but you may want to follow up in detail on your own, as master franchising can be a very powerful and lucrative business opportunity for the right person. One company that specializes in master franchising is Franchise Growth Systems (FGS), and you can retrieve additional information on master franchising at their website, franchisegrowth.com. Many franchise systems have three overall levels to the organization:

• Corporate Franchisor—this is typically the entity that that developed the concept and from whom you are buying your franchise license.
• Master Franchisee —this is the entity that buys the right to develop franchisees in a given territory, like a state.
• Franchisee—this is the person who buys the franchisee license and operates the actual franchise unit.

There are two major aspects of the master franchisee you need to understand:

• Is it an opportunity that makes sense for you; and
• If you become a franchisee, what is the impact of the master franchisee on your success?

FGS calls master franchising “the best kept secret in franchising,” and it is a pretty unique type of opportunity. Basically, the master buys from the franchisor the rights to develop franchisees in a territory. For each franchise license the Master Franchisee sells, it typically receives one half of the upfront license fee—and that’s not even the good part! It then receives up to half of the ongoing royalties paid by all franchisees operating in its territory. If the master gets a number of units open in his or her territory, 3% (or whatever his or her share of royalties is) of the annual sales in the territory can grow very quickly.

The master typically has to open the first unit in the territory, which increases the capital required. The cost of Master agreements can vary widely, but typically sell for about $.03 to $.10 per head of population in a territory. A state with 3,000,000 people at $.05 per head would require a $150,000 investment. With the first unit to be opened by the master added in, significant capital can be required. If the cost to open a retail store in a retail franchise is $150,000, the total upfront cost to the master is $300,000 in this example. A good Master Franchisee has multiple qualities:

• A strong financial position to invest in the territory and a unit upfront, and wait for the chain to grow over 2 – 5 years.
• Sales/business development skills.
• People management skills.
• The ability to understand and manage the franchisor/franchisee relationship.
• An appreciation for good franchisee operations.
• A commitment to the success of his or her franchisees.

Master franchisees that lack these skills can be very detrimental to a market and actually undermine the success of the market by creating discord among franchisees, and even turning franchisees against their own concept. Talk in depth with existing franchisees about their experiences with their master franchisee. The master role is sometimes called a Development Agent or Area Developer and, while there can be variations, the role is essentially the same. Bottom line: find out who the “middleman” is, and make sure they are a person with good values and a commitment to the success of their franchisees. This can be even more important than the quality of the franchise parent.

A last note: not all franchise systems have the middle role. Some master franchisees also are the ones who open and own all the units (versus recruiting other franchisees to do so).

Choosing A Franchise

If you determine that franchising is a good avenue to business ownership, one of the most important considerations is this: don’t let your excitement about going into business for yourself, or about a certain concept, cloud your judgment or make you skip a proper investigation of the concept. There are thousands of franchises in the United States. Be open minded when first investigating types of franchises, and don’t have tunnel vision about which one you think interests you. Once you narrow down your choices, investigate more than one at least semi-thoroughly.

The franchisor is required by law to provide you with a Uniform Franchise Offering Circular (U.F.O.C.). It should contain a list of existing franchisees. Contact as many as you can! See what their experience has been. If possible, get them to let you review their financial statements and see how they are really doing. If you can’t review actual numbers of other franchisees, don’t rely on the franchisor’s projections. Franchisees typically like to share their success—if they are doing well. Plus, getting a new franchisee in the system is good for the chain, which should motivate them to share. Some will be sensitive about the confidentiality of the information, but if no one will let you see their books, that’s a warning sign that the franchise may not be doing well in your market or overall.

Never get hasty—you will strongly regret it if you do, and end up making a bad choice. Also investigate resells of existing franchise units—they can represent a great opportunity and a smaller financial investment. Franchising can be an excellent avenue to business ownership. Investigate carefully, make objective judgments, and make sure the franchise is delivering value to its franchisees for the royalties and independence they require you to give up—and then get started! Conclusion

There is value in both new and existing franchise concepts. Obviously, the newer a chain is, the more untried and risky it is. Early entrants into one that becomes successful will enjoy higher returns, but don’t deceive yourself about the risk just because it’s a franchise (with either new chains or established ones). Franchise chains can and do fail, just like individual units do.

One of the big benefits a chain offers is brand recognition. The training and systems are of only nominal value once you know what you are doing. You may even find that your abilities outstrip the franchise’s (but don’t forget it’s consistency with your fellow franchisee’s operations that builds brand value over time!). Brand value is a big part of what you are paying for over the life of your relationship with the franchise. So a more established chain will have less risk (both as a chain and an individual unit), and deliver more quickly on brand value due to their market presence.

Your first choice should be to go with a more established chain with proven successes and lots of franchisees that can share their financial results with you before you commit. There are thousands of franchises in the United States. Utilize the Internet and print publications on franchises to review as many as you can while trying to discover the one that seems like the best fit for you.