Become a Franchise Owner!

With more and more professionals looking for alternatives to traditional corporate employment, Become a Franchise Owner! informs would-be franchise owners of the joys and perils of purchasing a franchise. Authored by a trusted, feisty, tell-it-how-it-is independent franchise industry insider, this book offers straightforward, step-by-step tips and advice on how to properly (and carefully) research and select a franchise business.

Get tips on how to locate information about franchises, current industry trends, interviews with franchisors, and hot franchise opportunities.

• Offers a self-evaluation to discover if you are "franchise material"
• Describes how to choose the right franchise for your specific situation
• Lists the 40 crucial questions to ask current franchise owners

Owning a franchise isn't for everyone; in fact, as Joel Libava says, "it's really not for most people." But if it is for you, this book can guide you in starting your own successful franchise business.

Acknowledgments xv

Introduction 1

1 About James 7

2 A Brief History of Franchising, Briefly 29

3 Take the Franchise Quiz! 39

4 Explained: The Franchise Business Model with Benefits 51

5 Are You Right or Wrong for Franchise Ownership? Reviewing the Quiz’s Results 71

6 Search for a Franchise without Searching for a Franchise 81

7 Do We Have a Match? 97

8 Show Me Your Money 117

9 Should You Have One of Those Free Franchise Consultations? 141

10 It All Comes Down to Your Franchise Research 157

11 Loans, Legalities, and Luggage 197

12 Decision Day 227

Final Thoughts 241

A Royal Collection of Resources for Franchise Buyers and Franchise Owners 245

Attention Franchise Buyers! 251

Index 253

JOEL LIBAVA, widely known as The Franchise King^®, helps unlock entrepreneurs from the shackles of a typical 9-to-5 routine to become successful franchise owners, through his advisory services, media appearances, blog, and self-produced videos. His Franchise King blog was named one of the 75 Best Business Blogs of 2010 by Business Pundit. He is a member of Jim Blasingame’s Brain Trust^®, the largest collection of small business experts in the world, and was named “The Franchise Expert in Residence” for the award-winning Small Business Trends website. He assisted the team at Guy Kawasaki’s Alltop.com in assembling a franchising webpage, featuring top franchise industry blogs/resources, and he contributes articles about franchising to the award-winning Open Forum by American Express website, as well as for the Community section of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s website, SBA.gov.

BECOME A FRANCHISE OWNER!

THE START-UP GUIDE TO LOWERING RISK, MAKING MONEY, AND OWNING WHAT YOU DO

Plenty of people have tired of taking orders from the workaday world and would love a chance to be their own boss. If you’ve started thinking about franchise ownership as your escape route from the office, Become a Franchise Owner! will arm you with the insights you need as you search for a franchise opportunity that’s right for you.

With more and more professionals looking for alternatives to traditional corporate employment, Become a Franchise Owner! explains the joys and perils of the franchise model. Joel Libava, “The Franchise King^®,” offers straightforward, step-by-step tips and advice on how to properly (and carefully) research and select a franchise business. Through real-world examples, Libava also details what not to do when buying a franchise—errors that could cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars when you’re finally forced to walk away from a failed business.

Become a Franchise Owner! offers the information and tools you need to take advantage of the franchise model:

• Take a self-evaluation quiz in order to determine if you’re franchise material
• Learn to assess your skill set and match your interests and aptitudes with an appropriate franchise
• Get tips on how to locate information about current industry trends, interview franchisors/franchisees, and how to discover hot franchise opportunities
• Learn the forty crucial questions to ask before buying a franchise

Owning a franchise isn’t for everyone; in fact, as Joel Libava says, “It’s really not for most people.” But if it is for you, this book can guide you in starting your own successful franchise business.