The most intelligent and well reasoned business book I have read in a long time.As an aspiring entrepreneur, and like many others, I considered purchasing a franchise as one possible route to business ownership. Not having owned a business previously, I figured this could be a lower risk way to learn about business through the benefit of a pre-existing, "proven" business method. For the price of the franchise, I would enjoy a symbiotic, cooperative relationship with the franchisor, for a cut of my revenues in exchange.
In short, I was prepared to buy into the franchise fraud.
Robert Purvin knows his subject. He spent the better part of his career as an attorney representing franchisors. With so colorful a title, I was expecting a rant against franchises in the broad language of most business books.
I was pleasantly surprised. Mr. Purvin, in summary, details the many ways in which franchisors, well with the law as it currently exists, target and bleed their middle class franchisees. With citation to court cases, government publications, and other authoritative material, the autor picks apart the myth that "95% of franchises are successful". He details the powerful legal and contractual methods through which many franchisors, far from helping and coaching their franchisees, use franchisees' capital to test unproven markets, saturate existing ones and take over the cream of the crop.
Not wanting a single book to shape my opinion, I confirmed with actual franchisees their opinion of the industry. Their complaints read like a checklist from the book. Needless to say, purchasing a franchise has sunk to the lower rungs of my list of opportunities.
Don't get ripped off. Buy this book.
