Become a Franchise Owner!: The Start–Up Guide to Lowering Risk, Making Money, and Owning What you Do

Praise for Become a Franchise Owner! "Joel ′The Franchise King′ Libava knows what he′s talking about. That′s why I handpicked him to become the resident franchise expert at my publication—no one else gives the same balance of facts and informed advice." —Anita Campbell, CEO and Editor in Chief of SmallBizTrends.com "Joel Libava goes beyond what′s necessary. He gives you the heart of the matter in regard to becoming a franchise owner, and guides you in what to do with that information. Get this book and grow!" —Chris Brogan, coauthor of Trust Agents "The decision to become a franchise owner is a big one—you would be crazy to even consider making it without Joel Libava′s years of experience in your corner." —John Jantsch, author of Duct Tape Marketing and The Referral Engine "Joel is indeed the Franchise King—I wouldn′t even consider buying a franchise without reading his book twice." —John Warrillow, author of Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You "Joel′s no–nonsense attitude and refreshing honesty comes through in droves in this outstanding book. Prospective franchisees will find the Franchise King′s approach very effective, highly educational, and entertaining. This book is a must–read for anyone thinking about buying a franchise." —Rob Goggins, Vice President of Franchise Development, Great Clips, Inc.

Foreword by Rieva Lesonsky xi Acknowledgments xv Introduction 1 1 About James 7 2 A Brief History of Franchising, Briefly 29 3 Take the Franchise Quiz! 39 4 Explained: The Franchise Business Model with Benefits 51 5 Are You Right or Wrong for Franchise Ownership? Reviewing the Quiz’s Results 71 6 Search for a Franchise without Searching for a Franchise 81 7 Do We Have a Match? 97 8 Show Me Your Money 117 9 Should You Have One of Those Free Franchise Consultations? 141 10 It All Comes Down to Your Franchise Research 157 11 Loans, Legalities, and Luggage 197 12 Decision Day 227 Final Thoughts 241 A Royal Collection of Resources for Franchise Buyers and Franchise Owners 245 Attention Franchise Buyers! 251 Index 253

Joel Libava , widely known as The Franchise King®, helps unlock entrepreneurs from the shackles of a typical 9–to–5 routine to become successful franchise owners, through his advisory services, media appearances, blog, and self–produced videos.His Franchise King blog was named one of the 75 Best Business Blogs of 2010 by Business Pundit. He is a member of Jim Blasingame′s Brain Trust®, the largest collection of small business experts in the world, and was named "The Franchise Expert in Residence" for the award–winning Small Business Trends website. He assisted the team at Guy Kawasaki′s Alltop.com in assembling a franchising webpage, featuring top franchise industry blogs/resources, and he contributes articles about franchising to the award–winning Open Forum by American Express website, as well as for the Community section of the U.S. Small Business Administration′s website, SBA.gov.