More than 540,000 franchised businesses dot the American landscape, ringing up total sales of $758 billion - which equals almost one-third of the nation's retail market.No doubt about it, franchising is already big business and it's getting bigger every year. (A franchised business opens up every 17 minutes!)In this fascinating and thoroughly researched book, Robert and Carrie Shook - two experienced business writers - take you inside the franchising industry to show you how ten of the best-managed franchisors operate and the exact steps to take and to avoid if you're thinking of buying a franchise.The ten enormously successful franchises they examine include fast-food businesses such as McDonald's, Pizza Hut, and Dunkin' Donuts... service providers like H&R Block, Century 21 Real Estate, Duskin Corp., and ServiceMaster... as well as Midas Mufflers and the 7-Eleven convenience stores. Each franchise is looked at in great depth, making you privy to information rarely divulged to those outside the franchising industry or even to most franchisee-owners.Among other things, you'll discover what goes on inside the executive suites of these franchise operations... how key decisions are made and the business lessons that can be learned from their blunders; the sort of relationship that exists between each franchisor and its franchisees... training, services, and financing provided; fees and expenses to expect; how well a franchisor communicates with, and how extensively and strongly it supports, unit owners; candid comments from a wide cross-section of franchisees about what it's really like to own and run a particular franchise... how much money you can make, the amount of time you have to put in, the day-to-day problems you face, and anything else you'd ever want to know.In short, you'll see "from the inside" what it takes to successfully operate various kinds of franchises; if you have the temperament and skills to succeed; and how to avoid every pitfall from inadequate policy manuals to needless restrictions or controls. Read Less