The idea of buying a franchise is persuasive. Rather than building a brand and set of business processes from nothing, making losses while your business grows, why not buy the business model ready made and skip that stage?
It can actually work sometimes. By buying a franchise, many business owners do manage to miss out some of the painful business-building years and, in return for their investment, get straight to the profitable phase. Fortunately, the franchise clients we look after are usually in that category.
But there's one common trait we've noticed amongst those successful franchisees - they would all have been able to build the business from scratch had they wanted to. They made a rational decision that their investment would be worth the shortcut.
Sadly, many franchisees aren't in that position. They buy a franchise because they wouldn't be able to build the business from scratch - either because of a lack of experience or an inability to think with focus and clarity. Not everyone is cut out to run a business - which is fine, of course.
But, if you ever think of buying a franchise, do consider why you're buying it. Is it a shortcut to somewhere you'd be able to get yourself eventually? Or are you buying it because the franchisor has convinced you that it's a "business in a box" that's guaranteed to work?