Resources on Franchise Oppurtunities

Franchising

Franchising (from the French for free) is a method of doing business wherein a franchisor licenses trademarks and tried and proven methods of doing business to a franchisee in exchange for a recurring payment, and usually a percentage piece of gross sales or gross profits as well as the annual fees. Various tangibles and intangibles such as national or international advertising, training, and other support services are commonly made available by the entity licensing the 'chain store' or franchise outlet (commonly shortened to the one word: franchise), and may indeed be required by the franchisor, which generally requires audited books, and may subject the franchisee or the outlet to periodic and surprise spot checks. Failure of such tests typically involve non-renewal or cancellation of franchise rights.
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The term "franchising" is used to describe a wide variety of business systems which may or may not fall into the legal definition provided above. For example, a vending machine operator may receive a franchise for a particular kind of vending machine, including a trademark and a royalty, but no method of doing business. This is called product or trade name franchising.

The parties involved typically enter a franchise agreement, which binds the parties together through contractual provisions. This is an arrangement whereby someone with an idea for a business (the franchisor), sells to another person (the franchisee) the rights to use the business's name, sell a product, or provide a service to someone else. A franchise agreement will usually specify the given territory the franchisee retains exclusive control over (the area protection), as well as the extent to which the franchisee will be supported by the franchisor (e.g. training and marketing campaigns). Most franchisee agreements, however, do not provide the franchisee with area protection because of the disparity in bargaining power between franchisors and franchisees.

Advantages
As practiced in retailing, by using the business network concept, franchising offers franchisees the advantage of starting up a new business quickly based on a proven trademark and formula of doing business, as opposed to having to build a new business and brand from scratch (often in the face of aggressive competition from franchise operators). In addition, a comprehensive study completed in 2006 by Franchise Business Review clearly demonstrates that the majority of franchisees are satisfied with their decision to invest in a proven system (86% positively rated their franchise opportunity and 71% said they would "do it again").

As long as their brand and formula are carefully designed and properly executed, franchisors are able to expand their brand very rapidly across countries and continents, and can reap enormous profits in the process, while the franchisees do all the hard work of dealing with customers face-to-face. See customer service. Additionally, the franchisor is able to build a captive distribution network, with no or very little financial commitment.

For some consumers, having franchises offer a consistent product or service makes life easier. They know what to expect when entering a franchised establishment.

Excerpt of "Franchising." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 24 Oct 2006, 06:30 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 25 Oct 2006 http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Franchising&oldid=83374651