Buying a franchise: You get a personal training ground

Do you know what the business requires of you, or do you just think you might like it? Before investing your life savings into a new business, franchise or otherwise, why not learn the business first? Take a job in the field, or pay someone to train you. Then you minimize the risk of finding out, too late, that you hate filling vending machines or making doughnuts, or doing whatever business you are financially locked into now. When it comes to buying a franchise, on-the-job training is pretty expensive.

Even if you know the industry, there is no way around the legwork required to choose the best franchiser. Magazines and the Internet often post the top 10 or top 100 franchises of the day. You can use them for a point of reference, but realize these offer computer-generated statistics that don't take into account variables like the location or the amount of money the franchisee is earning.