I owned a franchise of a "Bagel Store Chain" (won't give name) in New Jersey from 1994 to 1997. Cost me $ 140,000, half of which was financed at 9 % so I had to factor interest on loan as an additional business cost. At first it was a great investment despite restrictive conditions on how the business can be run. Then the company went public, and the stock quickly went from $ 5 to $ 30. Then management got greedy and started making mistakes--at that time I immediately put the franchise up for sale, despite how well my store was doing--took six months to sell it--but was about nine months until parent company went bankrupt. It is VERY risky and expensive, not to say VERY restrictive in what you can and cannot do (ALL FRANCHISES ARE CONTROLLED BY PARENT COMPANY)... to own any franchise successfully, you need : 1> Outstanding location, 2> Outstanding employees that deal well with the public 3> Reliable vendors 4> FAIR prices 5> Hours accomodating the majority of your customers 6> Willing to work VERY HARD while you learn and understand what it is you are involved in 7> enough cash on hand to take losses at least one to two years while you establish your niche 8> a FABULOUS accountant--who understands ALL facets of taxes 9> a reasonable payroll 10> ability to deal with problems WITHOUT losing your cool are you getting a pattern here? This is NOT going to be easy, but CAN be rewarding IF you are willing to WORK HARD, PUT IN ALL KINDS OF TIME, and NOT SEEK HUGE PROFITS FOR A WHILE. If you can do that, go ahead and get a franchise in whatever product and service you LIKE and KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT. G*O*O*D L*U*C*K