Interested in Janitorial or Commercial Cleaning franchises?
The FTC and the Maryland Attorney General’s Office jointly produced the Buying a Janitorial Services Franchise guide reproduced at Unhappy Franchisee.
While it was published in 2001, it is just as valid today.  Also read:
Buying a Janitorial Services Franchise
JAN-PRO: Janitorial Franchise Warning
JAN-PRO Franchise Complaints
CHAMPION CLEAN Using Bogus Franchise Statistics
WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
logo:  Federal Trade Commission

Before you fall in love with that exciting new franchise concept, it pays to familiarize yourself with franchise regulations and see whether your new squeeze is cheating on you.
For instance, the FTC prohibits promises of success or profits in franchise marketing materials.  However, the Solera Distributors franchise website is filled with illegal earnings claims promising franchisee success & profitability.  Solera Distributors claims:
…Franchisees should be able to support their basic living requirements for 4-6 months while building the foundation of their business.  Franchisees will work in a defined territory.  The potential of each territory will allow the franchisee the opportunity to …read more

Franchise blogger and broker Joel Libava has an uplifting post about a local non-profit organization opening a dollar store franchise in order to provide training and jobs to the developmentally disabled.
According to Libava, the Grand Opening of the Just-A-Buck store was about more than making bucks, and it was the culmination of a group effort.  It seems that staff members of Ohio’s Cuyahoga County Board of Mental Retardation & Developmental Disabilities {MR/DD} were exploring the franchise ownership model to help employ their workers. Anne Hach, the director of Key Entrepreneur Center at Cleveland Corporate College, directed them to the quarterly …read more

(Humor)  America’s beloved millionaire Richard Quick, Esq. provides his picks for the Best of the Worst new franchise opportunities.

Beloved millionaire Richard Quick, Esq.’s FranWorst.com website celebrates the many overlooked advantages of investing in the worst franchise opportunities, including lower fees, universal availability, and the absence of cumbersome rules and quality control.
And because you know it’s bad franchise, argues Quick, there’s no need to waste money to have a lawyer look over the legal agreements & disclosure documents.
Making that point, despite being an attorney himself, (He is, in fact, a founding partner of the prestigious firm Quick, Duhk & Hyde) displays …read more

I’m a fan of the Franchise Times magazine and the people who publish it.  I consider it essential reading for franchisors, franchisees and, perhaps especially, prospective franchisees.  Franchise Times is an inside-the-industry publication and, as such, gives a much truer picture of what’s really happening in franchising.  You won’t find Franchise Times on the newsstand, but it’s readily available by subscription or by accessing the Franchise Times website.
Newsstand Entrepreneurial Press:  Hype, Fluff… or Fraud?
Tuesday I was quoted in the Wall Street Journal about my motivation for creating the controversial UnhappyFranchisee.com blog:
Mr. Kelly says he was put off by the promotional …read more

Blogs and blogging is transforming the way franchise opportunities are researched, marketed and selected by franchise buyers.  Blogs are also giving franchise owners a chance to interact as they never have before.  And the mainstream business media is starting to take notice.
Today, the Wall Street Journal published Richard Gibson’s story Blogs Provide Insight to Would-Be Franchisee. While FranchisePick.com escaped mention (undoubtedly because the Wall Street Journal is nervous we’re eclipsing them ;)), Gibson featured one of my other blogs, Unhappy Franchisee.  Here’s my 84 words of WSJ fame:
Unhappy Franchisee (www.unhappyfranchisee.com). Franchisees with gripes about their business can post them at …read more

Ever daydream about owning a Ben & Jerry’s franchise Scoop Shop?
Or wonder what it would cost?
Well, here are the estimated start-up costs for a typical Ben & Jerry’s franchise (supplied by the company).  Contrary to what many believe, the bulk of your investment as a new franchise owner is paid to vendors, suppliers, contractors, landlords, etc. and not to the franchisor company.
The chart below breaks out not only the items and costs, but also who is paid for each:
ESTIMATED EXPENDITURES FOR SCOOP SHOPS
TYPE A AND B (APPROXIMATELY 750-1500 SQ.FT)

ITEM:
Estimated Cost
Paid to:

Preliminary Agreement Deposit
$16,000
Ben & Jerry’s

Initial Franchise Fee
$32,000 ($16,000 will be …read more

(FranchisePick.com) Coffee Beanery Executive Vice President Kevin Shaw had a secret so deep and dark that his company would stop at nothing to keep it hidden… even if it meant breaking the law.
The son of Coffee Beanery founder and former head of the International Franchise Association Joanne Shaw had been convicted of felony trafficing.
No, Kevin Shaw had not been convicted of drug trafficing.
He was not trafficing in arms, yellowcake uranium nor in non-fair trade Arabica beans.
No, Kevin Shaw had been caught stealing… traffic cones.
That’s right, traffic cones… those bright orange duncecaps of safety that keep schoolbuses of children from …read more

(FranchisePick.Com)  Congratulations to attorney Harold Kestenbaum on the publication of his first book, So You Want to Franchise Your Business.
Harold’s one of the best known and most experienced franchise lawyers in the nation, and his new book is a must-read for budding franchisors. 
The press release tells it all:
TOP FRANCHISE ATTORNEY OFFERS YEARS OF EXPERTISE IN FIRST BOOK
Attorney Harold Kestenbaum and Journalist Adina Genn Provide Expert Advice to Would-Be and New Franchisors

(Uniondale, NY)—Harold Kestenbaum has specialized in franchise law for over 30 years and has worked on more than 100 franchise concepts. Now, the former general counsel to Sbarro Inc. …read more

Guest Post by Joel Libava, My co-franchise blogger at Allbusiness.com
Hello FDD! Goodbye UFOC… Franchise Legal Documents
July 1st marked the day that the UFOC {Uniform Franchise Offering Circular} was officially retired. It was the legal document that the Federal Trade Commission {FTC} required franchise companies that were registered in the US to put together for distribution to interested franchise prospects, during the official sales process.
When the Federal Trade Commission overhauled its “Franchise Rule” last year, it came up with a new disclosure format. It was one which adopted the UFOC disclosure requirements, but added to them as well. And it …read more