Franchisors sell their businesses with the concept that you are in business for yourself, but not alone. Sounds great right? Well I bought it. In 2005 I bought a decoration franchise. It was an exciting moment. I was my own boss, at least that’s what I thought. I found myself so frustrated. The franchisor required franchisees to call every week to give details of their progress. They did not allow franchisees to use low-cost third-party providers. I was forced to buy goods even if they were not used at the time of purchase. $25,000 was required to be made within the first three months of operation. This made me extremely stressed by the franchisor.

Many times I felt that I had failed, that I was incompetent. Efforts were made to promote my business and please the franchisor, but at the end of the day, they were not satisfied. At one point, I tried to hire an independent contractor, but the franchisor informed me that he couldn’t hire anyone. The reason they gave for his decision was that I only bought one unit and would be in violation of my contract with them.

The franchisor decided to buy back my franchise. They informed me that this would be the best for me, since it was going to be more difficult for me. I sold my unit to the franchisor at a loss. The non-compete clause was enforced. I went back to square one with no idea what my next move will be.

I wrote this article not to discourage you from buying a franchise, but to give you another perspective on what can happen. I have a friend who owns a Golden Crust franchise and he is very happy with his decision. If he’s going to buy a franchise, do your research diligently.

-Talk to another franchisee (not those recommended by the franchisor)
-Request a copy of UFCO when requesting franchise information.
-Hire an attorney to review your documents.
-Call previous franchise owners; ask them why they no longer own the franchise.
-Franchisees have rules to make sure you can stick to them.
-If you have creative ideas that you want to implement, I suggest you go into your own business. If you want to use someone else’s model, then a franchise is for you.