How and Why to Franchise Your Business

How And Why to Franchise Your Business: Go from Small Business Owner to Franchisor, by Michael A. Peterson, delivers exactly what the title promises. It is a clearly written and well-organized introduction to the process of setting up and managing a franchise. Peterson starts with short history of franchising and a discussion of what businesses lend themselves to franchises and which do not. Then he moves on to the pros and cons of franchising. The costs involved are substantial, for both the franchisor and the franchisee, often in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, so it is very important for both sides to deal with knowledgeable professionals in setting up an agreement that is fair, clear, and potentially profitable for both sides. The Franchise Disclosure Document must meet state and federal requirements. The book explains franchise models, typical fees, territory arrangements, renewal and transfer of the agreement, as well as the recruitment of promising franchisees and support of those already on board. While, as the author points out, each section could be the subject of its own book, this book provides a clear, helpful overview as well as sample documents and phone call scripts. For someone considering franchising their business or becoming a franchisee, this book is a helpful, extensive introduction to the process. I particularly enjoyed the examples the author included, such as McDonald's, Singer Sewing Machines, and fitness centers, and developed a new respect for the complicated relationship between the franchiser and franchisee.

As we were considering growing our small family business through franchising, we started investigating what it takes to become a franchisor. Michael’s name kept coming up in conversations with industry experts and attorneys.After doing some research we landed on this book. It was extremely informative, and eventually let us know that we were not quite ready to take this step. Assuming we do decide to franchise in the future, we will be reaching out to Michael for guidance and hope he is as available and eager to help as we have heard.This book is getting 4 stars instead of 5 because it touched on, but didn’t go into enough detail, on how to make sure you are NOT a franchise if you want to grow your business but don’t want to cross the line into franchising.

I am probably not the average reader of this book. I am an attorney that practices in a completely unrelated field, and wanted to educate myself on the process of franchise startup, both from a legal and practical view. I selected this book based on a recommendation of a friend who practices law in this space, who said it was the right balance of depth and breadth, so that in a fairly short read the reader would feel educated at a high level on every major milestone from idea to execution.After reading the book, I fully agree with both my friend and the attorney who wrote the foreword; the book is an easy read, has a smooth, conversational style, and ties the complete franchising process together. Overall would recommend.

Great info- wish I'd read it before purchasing a franchise location of another chain, I may have done things differently! Good place to start when evaluating a move from a successful local business to a national brand through franchising, or from a concept straight to a franchise model.

This is an excellent book. Lots of information and very easy to follow! It covers complex concepts but presents them in an clear, concise and easy to understand manner. Definitely a must read!

This book covered dense material in an easy to understand way. The book provides real tools to put to work in building a franchise. Though I am not currently franchising my business, as a student of business and entrepreneur I found the teachings to be relevant and understandable.

Surprising better than expected

The book was well laid out and I am using it in expanding my own business. The author is to the point and dead on with how to franchise. Highly recommended - Joe