1. Democrat and Chronicle 07/28/2013 Page : E01
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Don’t hurry.
Toguardagainstscams,
takeyourtime.Ifaseller
wantsaquickdecision,
takethatasawarning.
Ingeneral,whenapitch
isespeciallypromising,
oneshouldbeespecially
cautious.
Check the
competition.
Insomesectors,
includingmotels,senior
careandoilchanges,
therearetoomany
businessesvyingfor
customers.
Inquire about training.
Anewfranchiseemaythinkheor
shewillgetmorethantheydo.Some
companiesonlyprovideaone-week
crashcourse.
Who’s in
charge?
Asuccessful
franchisemay
notbeallthat
remunerative
forafranchisee.
Somefranchisors
offerapplicants
achancetobe
theirownboss
butcontrolmost
aspectsofthe
business.
Get advice.
These
documents
canbehardto
understand.
Consultan
accountantor
lawyerwith
experiencein
franchising.
Democrat and Chronicle Sunday, July 28, 2013
Len LaCara Business Editor (585) 258-2416
llacara@democratandchronicle.com
Len LaCara
Starting a business is like cutting
a path through a dense forest in a
strange land.
There are perils with every step.
You are rarely sure where you’re
headed, or if there is a cliff where
you hope there is a meadow. You ex-
pend your resources without any as-
surance that there will be a suitable
return.
Success is infrequent. About half
of American small businesses fail in
the first five years.
Franchising — basically becom-
ing an owner with strings, and mon-
ey, attached to a much larger compa-
ny — removes some of those perils
right away. It’s a steady growth sec-
tor in the American economy;
757,055 franchise operations cur-
rently are in place, up about1.5 per-
centover2012.Theygenerateabout
$800 billion in revenue annually and
employ about 8.2 million people.
There are helping hands every-
where in a franchise arrangement.
The franchisor — a McDonald’s, a
Burger King or a Mark’s Pizzeria, a
local chain with roots in Palmyra,
Wayne County — provides the dis-
tribution network, the advertising,
the brand, the employee training,
ofttimes the location, the A to Z in
retail start-up fundamentals.
Food dominates the franchise in-
dustry, but it’s not the only sector to
be involved. Home-based senior
GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY DANI CHERCHIO
Franchises
bring in
bucks, but
you’d better
have some
cash first
TO LEARN MORE
There are many sources of in-
formation for potential franchi-
sees. Here are a few:
» The Federal Trade Commission
at www.ftc.gov/bcp/franchise
» www.franchise.org
» www.franchisehelp.com
» FranchisingUSA magazine.
INSIDE
» Entrepreneurial Tightrope
column: Franchising gives man a
second chance, 5E
GAIN FROM
THE CHAINTom Tobin
Staff writer
See FRANCHISES, Page 5E