Mistakes to Avoid When Buying a Franchise

Joel Libava of the always informative Franchise King Blog offers prospective franchisees with critical information in his post "Buying a Franchise? Here are 4 Don'ts". Reflecting on mistakes that should be avoided, Mr. Libava offers the following advice:

"Here are four [mistakes] that the not-so successful [franchisees] will do that you can learn from;

They'll choose the franchise opportunity that seems to be getting the most press. In other words, it's a hot franchise.
They will buy a franchise that is aligned with their hobby, or passion.
They buy what they feel is the perfect franchise, because they can't find a job.
They will forget asking really, really, important questions."

If you are considering the purchase of a franchise read Mr. Libava's post and his detailed articles on this topic.  One of the many issues addressed by Mr. Libava is the suitability of replacing a lost job with a franchise.  In our current economic climate this is an issue of extreme relevance and Mr. Libava offers some great insights.  In my article "Can (or Even Should) you Buy A Business or Franchise to Replace a Lost Job" I discuss some of the factors that you should be considering and discussing with your family members before making a leap into the world of small business and franchise ownership.