I agree with what PMcDonald said. A franchise provides you with:
- A system that has been determined to work well
- Help in choosing a good location for the business
- Training and instructions on running the business
- Brand recognition (in most cases)
In return you have to hand over a lot of money and give up a lot of control and decision making. You're basically paying to reduce your risk, perhaps by a very large amount, but success still is not 100% guaranteed. Wikipedia has an
article on franchising which lists some advantages and disadvantages of buying a franchise.
Quote:
Originally Posted by brianmay06  A little more about my franchise is I think it is a good franchise, but when the franchise does not have such a strong name nationally or maybe I should say is still building its reputation nationally, a lot of money, time, and effort are spent by the franchisees to develop those local markets. So is the benefit of buying a franchise there if building the local market is solely your responsibility? |
Brand recognition is definitely one of the major benefits of a franchise. Even more importantly it has to be positive brand recognition. In other words, don't by a Wal-Mart franchise.
It is of course possible to succeed without brand recognition, but in that case the only advantage you have over other local businesses is the training and support from your franchiser. In that case you're also doing extra work that benefits the franchiser more than it benefits you (by helping them expand brand recognition).