Comments on: Do You Want a Business or a Job?

By: curiousjessica

curiousjessica — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 04:55:54 +0000

I’m just reading through all of the archives and wanted to add my 5 cents to this discussion.
Franchises SUCK. They suck you in, they suck your money, and then they suck the life out of you. I’ve worked for a family who bought several drive-thru coffee franchises, looking to make a buck – and it all went horribly wrong after hundreds of thousands of dollars. The company selling the franchises doesn’t care. You buy a franchise at your own risk! Ask yourself this – if the franchised outlets were really going to be that great/successful, wouldn’t the company want to run them by themselves and reap all of the magical profits?

By: Neil Matthews

Neil Matthews — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:46:10 +0000

A while ago I was looking into franchising and it seemed a flawed model, you have to buy your products from teh franchisee and then pay them a comission on top for selling the stuff they sold you.

Solopreneurs rock, do your own thing in your own style

By: Ben Kelly

Ben Kelly — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 12:18:58 +0000

Excellent post.

In the defence of franchsing, I think they are a very attractive prospect for someone who has been working in a job for a long time, has family and financial obligations, and yet still wants to be his own boss. These people may feel security in having routines to follow, and having a strategy and plan set-out for them.

Personally, they have no attraction to me at all, but I have met some very happy franchisees who would recommend them as a good way to earn a living.

It may come as no suprise, that none of these owned a branch of the increasingly popular sandwich shop…

Ben

By: Jon P

Jon P — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 02:11:08 +0000

Chris, not that I ever considered a franchise (although I do have my own business), but for some reason this post makes me feel good that my instincts were right.

By: Greg

Greg — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 00:44:12 +0000

Great post Chris!! Definitely turns the tables on what I thought franchises were and how they worked. Excellent job =)

Greg
(found your blog through zenhabits)

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 07:30:20 +0000

Thanks, Duff!

I’m sure some people will disagree with the critique, but I suspect only a small minority of franchise owners are successful enough to defend the system. At best it is a lot of work for small rewards, and at worst it is exploitative.

By: Duff

Duff — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:44:16 +0000

Wow! I’ve never seen such a devastating critique of franchising. I suspected it wasn’t nearly as easy as I’ve heard, but that’s wild.

Thanks for this!

~Duff

p.s. Found your blog via GetRichSlowly.org