In a previous post of mine concerning Hot Franchises, and my recommendation to stay away from them, one particular franchise was mentioned as a possible "avoider." BusinessWeek Online just seconded my opinion…
The online version of the popular magazine, BusinessWeek, is telling a story of two business partners in Georgia, who obviously got caught up in the 2004-06 EBay madness, and purchased an iSold It franchise. Here are a couple of folks who could not turn a profit, no matter how hard they tried. The story.
They also mentioned two great Franchise Blogs that are pretty influential, and you should check them out:
BlueMauMau.org {A great blog focused on franchisees..one of the top franchise blogs in the world!}
FranchisePick.com {Focused on updates in franchising, and some awesome writing by Idea Farm‘s President, Sean Kelly}
The iSold franchise was number one on my "Don’t Buy Hot Franchises" hit list, as you can see in my post.
When I do Franchise Seminars around town, I always get asked this question;
"Joel, what is the Hottest Franchise"?
If I was an interested party, I would probably ask the same question. My reply is:
"Let’s start with you. I want to learn all I can about your background, your personality traits, your goals, and your investment comfort level. Then, I can guide you through a process that will include some nice choices that could be a great fit for you. This is what I do.
Remember..What is Hot now, usually gets cold.