Read All About It

When you visit a franchise owner, be sure to ask these questions:

• Tell me about supply arrangements for the business. Do you make your own arrangements, or are supplies handled through a buying group?

• Is there an active franchisee council or owners association?

• What do you think of the training you received when you were starting out?

• Is the business seasonal? How do you handle the financial demands of the off-season?

• Knowing what you know now, would you buy this franchise again?

This article was originally published in the March 1998 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Read All About It.