According to franchise expert Robert Bonds, out of 3,500 or so franchising firms in the United States, some 400 of them provide some sort of earnings claim, whether it be how much a selected group of elite stores makes in revenues or how many widgets an average store may sell.<!--break--> Revealing a store's earnings to would-be franchise buyers can be manifest in many forms. A few franchisors will actually disclose the jackpot for a buyer - what the net income of an average store in the franchise system is. Bond discusses how to discover the ever-elusive average earnings and how much an owner-operator typically makes with their franchise investment. Hint: It's a lot less than you probably think.
Robert Bond is an authority on franchise earnings claims and the franchise selection process. For some 20 years, he has focused on the franchise world. He is publisher of such books as How Much Can I Make?, Franchising: The Bottom Line and Bond's Top 100 Franchises. He runs the online franchise directory at WorldFranchising.com.
Blue MauMau had the privilege of catching up with Oakland, California-based Mr. Bond and interviewing him on the scenic banks of the Ohio River, with the Louisville, Kentucky skyline in the distance and the hum of an occasional cicada or plane in the background. Bond was visiting his childhood home of Kentucky.
"My sense is that just about every franchisor knows what its franchisees are making and they can make that information available," he says. "For one reason or another, very few decide to make that information available."
Listen to the 15:30 minute interview audiostream below or download it as an mp3 Podcast by clicking "download."
