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Contents of this page: Why Buy a Franchise?   Location   Knowledge

Speed. Look and Feel.  People to Lean on.

Why not?  Money.  Control.  Independence.  Expansion.  Leases.

Authors Experience with Franchises.

Why Buy a Franchise?

In the coffee business I don't think there are many good reasons to buy a franchise.  You do get the franchisers knowledge - this will save you research time and will get you open faster, but in a year you may be singing a different tune.  Make sure what your goals are, then decide.  If you are doing this strictly as an investment, then a franchise is probably a good idea.  But if you are doing this for the love of coffee and independence, think twice, think again, and then think again before signing a franchise agreement.

Location

The most compelling reason to buy a franchise is to get a good location.  Frequently you will also get a operating site since it is pretty typical today for the franchiser to open the site and then sell it to you.
Malls can be tough to get in to.  National Chains have a leg up in this regard so if you want a mall and are willing to give up independence then franchising is the route for you.

Be very careful.  If the franchiser owns the lease, and you sign the franchise agreement, you are simply a laborer with little input on how to run or operate the business.  If this is an investment for you, fine.  You will have the roving managers for the franchiser in your store to help you run it and you will not have to make product, pricing, people, and a myriad other decisions.  No sweat.

But ... no sweat, no rewards, besides money.  And if the money is all you want, then ...  your customers and staff will know it and it will be difficult to get beyond the limits of the mall traffic.

Knowledge

Knowledge.  Hmm.  You definitely want to find out what an espresso is.  And you definitely want to find out how to make a cappuccino; for that matter you need to find out how to spell cappuccino, and Ethiopian Yrgacheffe.  But the funny thing is, a lot of people who start franchise operations never get to taste Yrga Cheffe (or is it Yrgacheffe?).  So how are they going to train you.

Franchisers know certain things about business.  The most ruthless I have ever heard is a franchise senior sales person say that franchisees provide cheap labor and cheap capital to the franchiser.  This is true.  He knew it and I know it and you know it.  In fact, this was the person who sold franchises for a major Florida company.  I will never forget it.  When I heard it, the next thing that popped into my mind was, "what the heck am I doing here?".  I left fast.  Exit stage left as they say.

Location.  Store layout and design. Type of Store. Pricing.  Menu.  People.