Let’s say you want to get people interested in your franchise opportunity by telling them they’ll have revenue of $150,000 by their second year.
But there’s one problem: the pesky little busybodies at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) insist that you can’t give financial performance claims except in the designated section (Item 19) of the Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) you give prospective franchisees.
And if you do that, you need to provide substantiation of the claims you make.
And where is the FUN in that?!
Don’t despair, cloud merchants and dream sellers!  Take a deep breath and …read more

In the past few weeks, my controversial website Unhappy Franchisee was maliciously hacked and sabotaged by, I assume, a franchisor who does not believe the 1st Amendment or Freedom of Speech should extent to those critical of his franchise program.
The two franchisors with the most to gain from the attack seem to be the international coaching franchise ActionCOACH and its founder Bradley J. Sugars and, a distant second,  CA-based video game retailer Play N Trade. (I’d consider Play N Trade a distant second since much negative content was left on the site;  all negative content regarding ActionCOACH was purged).
Did ActionCOACH …read more

In the past week, the website UnhappyFranchisee.com was hacked and dozens of posts and hundreds of comments critical of some specific franchise companies were deleted.  All posts related to Brad Sugars and ActionCOACH (except one positive one) and all of the hundreds of critical comments related to that company were the first deleted.
Here is a nearly complete copy of the UnhappyFranchisee.com post ACTIONCOACH, BRAD SUGARS: Overview & Discussion that was originally published April 14, 2009.  Also included below are the 269 comments the post generated through September 2, 2009. 
It’s quite long, but serves as a message to those who …read more

ACTIONCOACH: Brad Sugars Answers Criticism was originally published July 11, 2009 on Unhappy Franchisee. It is reprinted here by permission.
He’s the target of much criticism on the web (see 100+ comments on ACTIONCOACH, BRAD SUGARS: Overview & Discussion), so ActionCoach founder & CEO Brad Sugars is promoting his Q&A format blog “Ask Brad Sugars.”
In one Q&A, Brad Sugars directly addresses why he thinks he’s the subject of such harsh criticism on the web.  The text below reflects the entire question and excerpts of Brad Sugars answer.
You have some people who really don’t like you. Why do you think people are …read more

BRAD SUGARS, ActionCOACH: The Battle of the Blogs was originally published July 13, 2009 on Unhappy Franchisee.  It is reprinted here – with the initial comments – by permission.

Brad Sugars, founder & CEO of ActionCOACH, is the target of much criticism on the Internet.  According to Brad Sugars, there are 5 things you should do when you are attacked on the Internet.  In his post The Good, the Bad and the INTERNET , Brad Sugars wrote:
1.  Answer EVERY allegation with total transparency but only do it on a site that YOU CONTROL … never answer on their site, put a …read more

ACTIONCOACH ML Says Detractors are “Losers” was originally published July 20, 2009 on Unhappy Franchisee and is reprinted here – along with its initial comments – by permission.
A commenter who says he is a successful ActionCOACH ML (Master Licensee) claims that the negative Internet comments against the ActionCOACH franchise and ActionCOACH founder Brad Sugars are the work of “a few sore losers are trying their best to destroy the good name of Brad Sugars and ActionCoach simply because they were not good enough.”
Commenting on the post ACTIONCOACH, BRAD SUGARS: Overview & Discussion, ML Defense writes:
As a successful ML of ActionCoach, …read more

Brad Sugars: “Con Man extrordinaire” or “extraordinary business man and visionary”?
ActionCOACH franchise: “Scam,” “Rip-off,” “Fraud” or a franchise opportunity that “makes every business owner’s dream possible”?
Which is it?
Well, the answer you’ll get depends on which Google search link you click on.
Each of those quotes are from actual statements made by online commenters claiming to be ActionCOACH franchise owners.
According to today’s post on UnhappyFranchisee.com,   (BRAD SUGARS, ActionCOACH: The Battle of the Blogs) it looks like Brad Sugars (the founder of the largest business coaching franchise, ActionCOACH) has launched an intense blogging and social media campaign to try to push …read more

(FranchisePick.Com) For no particular reason, here are 8 franchise opportunities posted on other blogs today, March 8th.
Plus one license opportunity (AmeriTax), as a special bonus.
You can request and review their information for free.  It’s usually delivered automatically in the form of an electronic brochure.
Once you review those that look interesting, come back and let us know what you think of them.
Tax Preparation Franchise & License Opportunities:
Roni Deutch Tax Center Franchise Opportunity
AmeriTax Tax Preparation License Opportunity
Consulting & Sales Franchises:
DEI Sales Training Consulting Franchise
FranchiseInc! Sales and Consulting Franchise
ActionCOACH Consulting – Coaching Franchise
Around Town Community Magazine Franchise
TheHomeMAG: A Top New Publishing Franchise?
SALES …read more