The following excerpt is from Rick Grossman’s book Franchise Bible. Buy it now from Amazon | Barnes & Noble
The single most informative discovery tool at your disposal for investigating any franchise opportunity is interviewing current and former franchisees. Talking with them is a critical component of the prospective franchisee’s due diligence. In order to help you through what can sometimes be a nerve-wracking process, we’ve prepared a list of questions that will act as a starting point for such conversations.
Begin this process by first finding the list of current and former franchisees that must be an exhibit to the FDD for the franchise(s) you’re considering. In statistics, one finds the greatest accuracy from the largest pool of contributors. The same holds true here. Your goal will be to contact as many franchisees — both current and past — as you can. In doing so, you’ll pick up on trends and be able to identify common threads throughout the comments you’re hearing from them. If there seem to be too many franchisees to manage, start with the franchisees who are closest to you geographically and move outward to the next city, state or region.
Call as many former franchisees as you can. Though many may not want to talk with you or may tell you only negative things, such conversations are valuable and, once again, may offer details that add to…