I'm thinking of opening another business. Initial capital would be in the 250K to 500K range depending on investors. I'm not too sure of what kind of franchise to get into, but it would be something in the medical field.

Any of you franchisees? Your thoughts and what you would of done differently in you could start over again?

Thanks for your input,
John

No business owners in here?

Plenty, but apparently no franchise-holders. Be careful & have your own lawyer read the paperwork. There is some wierd stuff in some of those agreements.

Lawyers, talk about a neccessary evil...

Quoted: Find out the names of franchisees with the same company, including ones that went under or that they sued, if you can and talk to thim.

That is some outstanding advice. Check at the local clerk's office for the company name as a litigant, and get autotrak on something similar run on the company. Tht'll give you a lost of opposing parties & their lawyers to contact for the downside dope on the outfit.

I was thinking in the line of a pharmacy. Two of my cousins are pharmicists. They're getting tired of working for someone else and asked me to help them with opening a business in their line of work. I'm not too sure if this is a good idea, they both make over 80k a year...

strip club

Quoted: strip club

His cousins just aren't all that attractive.

Be prepared to deal with the small things that will nickel and dime you to death.  Such as using the $25/gallon paint which is Gray-Blend #345-563, rather than misty gray, just because it is the "approved" color for all facilities.  We deal with goofey things like that all the time.  Depending on the franchise, they will likely dictate where you purchase your supplies, such as forms, contracts, etc...  Often at exaggerated prices which are designed to increase the parent company profit.  I know a gentleman who owned 3 Jersey Mike's sandwhich chops and was forced out of the business when they introduced a new menu item, or cooking item.  all stores had a set time to upgrade their oven or whatever, at a cost of $xxx.  He could not afford, and went bankrupt.  Prior to that happening, he was looking to expand.  Perhaps he was already in trouble, financially, and this just put him over the edge.  I don't know.  But it happened, and he was managing a good sized company prior to that, so I know he was not a dunce.

I work in a franchised company.  We are a very successful one.  One of the negatives for us, is the other franhisees drag us down.  That is something to consider, as well.  Your local franchise can only be as good as the others, nationwide.  Because people will remember dealing with others within your company that are owned by other companies.  That may not be an issue in the medical field, and if you are dealing with local customers.  It is for us, though.

I am not suggesting not going the franchise route, just telling some things to look out for, that I have seen.

Hell, if you've got $250K to invest, just do a blatant copy of some franchise that's already working - not blatant enough to get sued, but hell, copy the floor plan, reverse-engineer the recipe, copy the lighting, et c et c. Worst case scenario, you have huge losses to write off against taxes on your principal source of income.

I bought a Franchise business about 10 years ago.    I bought out the remainer of my contract after 5 years and am on my own now.  

There are only 2 reasons to buy a franchise business.
1) The Name.  ie  McDonalds. Wendys  etc.
2) To get the information, training or materials you need to start up a business you have little to no experience in.


Get a Lawyer who is experienced in this area to review your contract.  Franchise regs change from state to state and even county to county.

As stated above, talk to people who suceeded in the business and most of all talk to those who failed.  

Make sure everything they tell you is in writing.  Make sure the up front costs and the monthly fees cannot be changed.
Go and visit several of the operations and see for yourself how they are doing.

Quoted: Be prepared to deal with the small things that will nickel and dime you to death.  Such as using the $25/gallon paint which is Gray-Blend #345-563, rather than misty gray, just because it is the "approved" color for all facilities.  We deal with goofey things like that all the time.  Depending on the franchise, they will likely dictate where you purchase your supplies, such as forms, contracts, etc...  Often at exaggerated prices which are designed to increase the parent company profit.  I know a gentleman who owned 3 Jersey Mike's sandwhich chops and was forced out of the business when they introduced a new menu item, or cooking item.  all stores had a set time to upgrade their oven or whatever, at a cost of $xxx.  He could not afford, and went bankrupt.  Prior to that happening, he was looking to expand.  Perhaps he was already in trouble, financially, and this just put him over the edge.  I don't know.  But it happened, and he was managing a good sized company prior to that, so I know he was not a dunce.

Kind of like 90% of the 'Hardees' in the Milwaukee area...

Back when it was a McDonalds kind of restauraunt (with those delicious 'MonsterBurgers') they were EVERYWHERE...

Then, they decided to become a Culvers (eg half way between fast-food and sit-down) sort of place instead...

Most of the owners closed up shop rather than renovate their restauraunts...