In the more than 20 years I've spent working with franchisors, I've always been impressed with how generous and genuinely nice people in franchising are. It's no wonder, since franchising is all about helping people achieve their dreams.

As practiced in "business format" franchising (the most common type), franchising gives you the advantage of starting up a new business quickly based on a proven trademark and formula of doing business, as opposed to building a new business and brand from the ground up.

Good franchisors generally offer a turnkey business: from site selection to lease negotiation, training, mentoring and ongoing support as well as statutory requirements and troubleshooting.

Long before you've approached the franchisor, they've taken the risks in researching what kinds of locations work best, what store layout (in a retail business), colors and signage attract customers and what's the best product mix to sell. It's this Research and Development that you're paying for with the ongoing royalty fees you'll be paying.

A well run franchise uses the franchise fee to cover costs associated with training you to become successful. Training that is simply not available to you if you're starting a business on your own.

With the franchisor having done all the research, it's tempting to think that there's nothing much left for you to do to be successful. Unfortunately, that's how some people approach a franchise. They quickly find that they couldn't be more wrong! The reality is that you need to be prepared for a grueling couple of years. Realistically, you can expect to finally draw money out of the business after one or two years depending on the business. Make sure you have access to enough funds to cover your living expenses for at least two years.

Our purpose in developing this site is to help you make one of the most important decisions in your life with as much information as possible. After all, no one wants you to fail.

Good luck in your search for the franchise that's best for you!

Fred Berni
Franchise-Success-Strategies.com