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toolsWho Should a franchisee hire to do due diligence?
Submitted by 20yearzee on Sat, 2008/02/02 - 20:32.
If Joe V.P. is coming out of the corporate world, and wants to open a franchise in a field in which he has not experience, what sort of consultant should he hire to assist him with due diligence?
Joe VP should....
get in the Internet and search Franchise Due Diligence. He should then go to the websites that are turned up by that search and satisfy himself which suits him best. He should then visit with that person/those people, and make up his mind who he wants to work with.
He should exclude anyone who is paid by a franchisor and he should know that there aint no free lunch.--
Richard Solomon, FranchiseRemedies.com, has over 45 years experience with franchise litigation and crisis management. He is a graduate of The Citadel and The University of Michigan Law School
Joe VP should do the investigating firsthand for each concept
hire a competent franchise attorney and if he can't do the financial analysis himself hire an accountant as well.
Most due diligence is common sense and research.
The Truth Shall Set You Free!
TIF
The victims are getting angry!!
From reading on BMM there are so many complaints from zee's. Isn't it proof enough that something is wrong out there. A guest replied to my comment about killer dd. They said you only need about two or four weeks to do dd. What does that tell you? People do not understand the serious committment of buying a zee. We took longer to do dd. We still got fleeced. The only solution is to never never buy a zee. Besides it isn't your business. So far I have read so many complaints against most of the franchises. Why would anyone trust a zor? I am not bitter. Just hurt that so many people are being hurt.
I just saw on the interenet
an article of a new 123 fit couple opening with a great view. This is living proof that people don't do dd. They did the circuit we had and it does work. But the business side doesn't work. The proof is in the UFOC that was disclosed in Jan. 2007. 22 stores closed. To date over 30 have closed. I know they are basing their decision on their area director. Which was our area director. He does have one of the few successful clubs. But he bought his club that was an existing club. Second generation of a zee has a better change of making it because he doesn't have to do the build out. I wish them well but if I could talk to them I would tell them the truth. We never included people on our hold list because they weren't paying members. The people opening this new club are very intelligent educated people. They just don't understand what killer due diligence is. I wish them well but if they are like the most who opened I feel sorry for them.
Bogus info from Do Diligence
Just thought I would correct some of the bogus claims you are making about your previous Area Director and his location. In the future, please do not spread what you percieve to be the truth without performing your own due diligence.
You stated the following:
"He does have one of the few successful clubs. But he bought his club that was an existing club. Second generation of a zee has a better change of making it because he doesn't have to do the build out."
The above is incorrect. He did not buy an existing club, rather he bought the original franchise and paid for the entire buildout under a different name. When they were bought out, he had to pay once again to update his location to meet the new standards of the organization. In short, he had to pay for TWO build outs in one location. He is not a second generation zee, but the original one.
Despite this, he continues to operate his club going into his fifth year of business.
In spreading false information it becomes hard to give you any credibility in anything you post.
I also heard that you were offered a buyout opportunity for your club from your Area Director, but you chose to close instead. Why wouldn't you allow your Area Director, whom by the way you think only wants to sell, to purchase your failing franchise? It seems to me they were willing to give you a way out and you chose to ignore it and go your own way. You could have minimized your loses.
Best of luck in the future.
SBJ
Guest what is your
credibility? Are you from corporate? Register so we can have an idea who we are talking to.
Reply to "Guest what is your"
We are both very credible and NO we are in no way, shape or form related to anything corporate 1-2-3 Fit or other 1-2-3 Fit. We have spoken with most owners in our UFOC and visited a few clubs.
We are in the process of searching out a franchise, and happen to know one of the owners who is successful. Yes, as an area director they want to sell, but this owner also runs a franchise. We know that there is an owner in Eastern WA who runs a Quiznos, 1-2-3 Fit, and is an area director as well as corporate Regional Franchising Director. Too many hats for one to wear at once.
Registering with a made up name like "Do Diligence" is not going to give anyone an idea who you are talking to. Call us SBJ.
SBJ
123 fit and Quiznos
are the same people. Are you out of your mind? Quiznos that has thousands of people after them. Do your dd on Quiznos. Study how they build their empire. 123 fit will follow in the foot steps, hurting many people.. I don't believe 123 fit will be successful because selling subs and the fitness business are two different things. It is like saying I opened a successful sub joint up now I can copy-cat Curves, (who is having problems now.) Ray Wilson is one of the reasons we bought. Only to find out he left the company way before we signed the agreement.. Do you honestly think we would buy a fitness center with nobody who knows how to promote a fitness business. They talked to us like Ray Wilson was still there. That is misrepresentation. If you didn't know this, Ray Wilson is an icon in the fitness business.
Reply: 123 fit and Quiznos
Check out the following franchise: www.smashburger.com
Sounds like an interesting concept. Don't know much about it, but it is new and growing and highly praised in the local media.
Good deal or bad deal? Who knows, too early to tell, but one to watch for sure.
123 fit and Quiznos
was praised from the media too. Have you not read all the horror stories? I have been told by many franchise lawyers anything to do with the leaders of Q is bad. Smash Burger has already been discussed. Stay away from the fitness devil, sandwich devil and burger devil.
Haven't you heard of at least 4 suicides connected with Q? Haven't you heard people saying how ironic it is that they are giving to the homeless and making other's homeless?
You must be from corporate.
Reply: 123 fit and Quiznos
You certainly hold nothing back in how you feel.
We only mentioned the name and you begin to attack us.
We stated in our posting that we do not say it is good or bad. Just thought we would get some feedback. Don't attack us.
See the world through the eyes of compassion. Forgive everyone, embrace all, and allow others to be exactly who they are. You can't change them anyway.
If your family was hurt
financially you would not be talking like that.
No attack
Just facts.
When it comes to people getting hurt
I am very passionate about exposing the reality of the dark side of franchising. Not all franchisors are bad. I know what I know first hand. I just want to stop people getting hurt from bad zors. In history there are stories of many bad people who purposely hurt others. There is a reason for all the lawsuits with Q. They are known as one of the worst in the industry.
Do Diligence
Yes or no, (one word answer only, please)
Were you or are you a Quiznos franchise owner?
I don't comply to
guest request. Unless I know you.
Do Dil where for art thou?
How come you don't respond? We are anxiously awaiting to hear from you.
Please don't keep us waiting any longer.
Register
It is hard to have a conversation otherwise.
Reply
Why dont you want to share with guests? I thought that is what you were here to do. You are a liar then.
Nobody knows who you are.
We are SBJ
SBJ
Could stand for Silverdale, Brain and Jason or Smith Brooksey Jo ( CEO's wife's middle name.) Nobody knows who you are too.
Everything I have said on this sight is the truth. Information given to me by former area directors, former zees and existing zees. Is everyone liars except you? All I have written on here is everything I would say in court under oath.
reply to "SBJ"
You sound like a stalker, claiming names and middle names of CEOs wifes etc...
Scary to say the least.
Perhaps Do Diligence, you would be best served as a private investigator. You could become a master franchisor and sell franchises and do all the due diligence yourself to ensure that they all did their due diligence before you sell them a franchise.
You missed your calling!!!
General Fran -
No but I might as well been
I am among many people who have been hurt by the same people who started Q.
Reply
Why are you so down on all franchises??? Surely there are good ones.
If you read closely
I am not down on all franchises. With 800,000 franchises out there. There must be some good ones. You have to admit there are sharks out there. The one-sided UFOC/FDD appeals to sharks. They can legally rob, steal from the good people of our country that has worked all their lives, building and building and being responsible adults. To be taken advantage of by sharks. Having to live in poverty in their older years because of greed. Thousands of people are suffering. I have talked to many people not only in our franchise but other bad companies. .
I have no idea who SBJ
For all I know it may be Brooksey Smith, CEO of 123 fit.
Buy Buy Buy.
you know what's best for you. Don't listen to all these folks with their personal experiences with the very franchise you are researching. If their story differs with your emotional attachment to the franchise, then ignore those folks!!!
You need to sign a check and sign one right away. Leverage your home equity to make it happen. Doesn't matter when you're sitting on a cash cow, right?
you should consider an area development agreement -- the more of your cash you can give the franchisor up front the better.
doh.
Reply to "Buy buy buy"
Fortunately for us we are only in the investigative phase and didnt just jump in like some of the unfortunate posters here.
We are happy to report we have done nothing with this or any other franchise. We won't until/if we are 100% confident, which we may never be.
We appreciate all the information shared.
As for Do Diligence, the answer is very clear. You need to let go of everything that no longer serves you. How long must you carry the burden of the mistakes of your past?
SBJ
It has only been alittle over
three months. How long do you think it takes to get over being robbed?
It is hard to let go
of a life time of hard work, with success behind it. This was the worst decision we ever made.
My intentions are good
I started writing on BMM to learn what happened to us. I have learned and it has been very hard to accept. Warning people about the steps they need to do to protect themselves from sharks is honorable. Financial hell is unbearable and I would not wish that on anyone. Not even you.