When buying a franchise business you should make sure the franchise you are looking to get into is good and will make you successful as well. After all, selecting the wrong franchise can hurt you and may even wipe out your hard earned savings. Below we have listed traps many novice business buyers fall into when choosing a franchise.
- Our primary motivation is increasing our profit. The franchisees, like you, will come and go, but eventually we need to, and will, make money for ourselves
- We will not hesitate to open new locations close to your current one even if it means your sales will go down. As we mentioned in item 1 our primary motivation is to make money for ourselves.
- We will advise (read force) you to buy as much as possible from our commissary to maintain quality. The truth is commissary is very profitable for us.
- Store upgrades are a fact of life in franchise system. Learn to live with it and be prepared to spend several thousand dollars ever few years.
- We hire an army of lawyers and inspectors who can find hundreds of faults and reasons to put you out of business. We will not hesitate to use that weapon against you at our wish.
- While we say we welcome your suggestions to improve the franchise, don’t expect us to listen to you when you do provide them. At the end of the day we will do what is in the best interest for us, not you.
- We will spend marketing dollars at our own discretion. Don’t expect us to use it on your local marketing plans. You are on your own as far as local marketing is concerned.
- Our District Managers hold lot of authority and power. You better play nice with them or else face negative consequences in the future. We will listen to them more than you.
- We will lend you our brand and operating procedures in return for your royalty dollars. You are on your own when it comes to making money for yourself.
- Want to know how we are doing as a franchise system? Good luck finding that. How we measure up is our business.
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