Franchises
 

Anyone own or is in a serious position to start or acquire a new/existing business franchise?

For those that own, what is it that you like and dislike about your business franchise?

I can help a bit with your questions.

My family own a Holiday Inn Express franchise in the Western United States.

Likes/Dislikes
-Employee rates at any IHG property worldwide.
-Permanent PriorityGold status on their rewards program.
-Hotel's have excellent margins.
-Tripadvisor.com can be your worst enemy. I've heard of guests threatening to post a negative review unless you give them a discount.
-Continental breakfast expense is $100K plus yearly. Please think of the owners before you go for seconds!
-PIP (Product Improvement Plan) every 4-5 years which is always a 6-figure expense.
-Travel websites (Expedia Group, Priceline) take 10-15% cut of your rate.
-The housekeeping staff is all hispanic and work hard.

with a franchise you get the name recognition and customer base right off the bat, but the franchiser's decisions don't always benefit you because they put their best interest ahead of yours...
In the end the franchiser will be the first to make money, then you (maybe)

What I heard in class was franchises are 99% win rate, but costs a good fortune to start up and actually takes hard work to keep it going. Worked in a franchise before and know that the manager / owner worked more than 100 hours a week.