This could be your first day looking at franchises or considering a franchise distribution model for your business.

And if you went searching around the internet you will find all of these statistics and cliches in a variety of iterations.

Do you use any of these? Because Franchise insiders don't.

# 1 - US Department of Commerce Study shows 97% of Franchises vs. a 50% failure rate for independent businesses

Not so - The US Department of Commerce did not make this conclusion. Call and ask them. Bureaucrats tend to keep records they are proud of.

#2 - The median gross annual income, before taxes, of franchisees was in the $75,000 to $124,000 range, with over 30% of franchisees earning over $150,000 per year.

Not true and foolish - Median can't be a range. It is the exact midpoint of a range. It's impossible to support this assertion. Because you can't make a range a median.

#3 - US Small Business Administration study conducted from 1978 to 1998, which found that 62% of non franchised businesses closed within the first 6 years of their existence due to failure, bankruptcy, etc.

Unverifiable and likely not true - If you go to SBA.gov you can't find this information. You can find a lot of franchising people touting this as true.

#4 Owning a franchise allows you to go into business for yourself, but not by yourself.

It's trite - Franchisees are independent business owners and all of the owner's obligations are solely theirs. It's more like for franchisees and franchisors that - we are all in this together separately. When you succeed your franchisor will be happy to rejoice in the shared success. If you fail at franchising you will be an orphan and all alone in your failure.

# 5 Franchising is like a marriage.

No it's not like that at all - Marriages are supposed to be until death do you two part. Franchises are for specific term of years. You and your spouse make mutual decisions about what you'll do in your married life. In franchising your brand activities are prescribed by the franchisor. A marriage is between two people. If franchising was like a marriage then a franchisor would be a polygamist with multiple partners.

If you're using these 5 foolish franchise cliches you should stop. And if you hear someone use one of these cliches, turn around and run away.

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