This book will help you conduct your due diligence and evaluate a franchise opportunity. You need to know what questions to ask during the franchise buying process. This book does not describe the steps of the buying process. Rather, it gives you the questions you should ask at each stage of the process. Only after you ask the right questions, the hard questions, can you determine if the opportunity is in alignment with your goals, and your family's goals. Ignore magazine articles and blogs with headlines such as, "The 6 Questions You Must Ask..." or 10 questions, 24 questions....what ever it may be. There is no way you can feel comfortable asking only 30 questions to evaluate a franchise when you are pushing $50,000 or $250,000 or a million dollars to the middle of the table. The book is broken down into chapters that give you the questions you should ask (and why), beginning with what may be the most difficult: "Questions You Should Ask Yourself (and your family)". It concludes with being prepared for the "Questions the Franchisor Should Ask You"...with literally hundreds of questions you should ask during the process. FRANCHISE VALIDATOR will help you avoid financial ruin and avoid family destruction! An educated buyer makes better decisions. One can never ask too many questions!
About the Author: Donald Averitt, CFE is a 25-year franchise veteran. As Vice President of Franchise Development for some of the largest international franchise brands, he has sold hundreds of franchises (and interviewed thousands of frustrated prospective franchise owners who didn't know what questions to ask). He has also worked in his family-owned franchise business, experiencing "both sides" of the franchise world. He is a Certified Franchise Executive (CFE), a designation awarded by the Institute of Certified Franchise Executives, an educational division of The International Franchise Association (IFA). He has also helped independent business owners convert their business to a successful franchise. He is a speaker on the subject of franchising. Lane Fisher is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and serves on the franchise law committee of the New Jersey State Bar Association, the Philadelphia Bar Association and the American Bar Association's forum committee on franchising. In addition to chairing its membership committee since 2005, Lane serves as a member of the International Franchise Association's Board of Directors and is a past member of its executive committee and a past chair of the executive committee of the Supplier Forum Advisory Board. Lane also is a former chair of the Legal Symposium Task Force and serves on the FranPAC advisory board. Rod Bristol is the Senior Vice President of Profit Mastery in Seattle, Washington. Rod began as an investment banker, doing mergers and acquisitions in the $2 million to $20 million dollar middle-market. He has been elected to the White House Conference on Small Business, and served as Governor Appointee and Chairman of the Washington State Economic Development Finance Authority and Small Business Improvement Council. Rod is a Certified Franchise Executive, has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Washington. Jenny Childs is currently a Vice President and Sr. Franchise Consultant at The You Network and creator of FranchiseYOU. The You Network is a consortium of 20 senior-level franchise executives who are asked to join by "invitation only" and include some of the most seasoned consulting professionals in the franchising industry. She is uniquely qualified to assist potential business investors as she has worked in all facets of franchising over the last 15 years including: franchise development, franchise operations and franchise funding. She can be contacted at www.FranchiseYOU.com