Presidential Secrets

If you've caught the franchise bug, you're certainly not alone. Franchising has long been the business investment vehicle of choice for hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs, and a healthy percentage of them have become multimillionaires.

Selecting and building the perfect franchise, however, isn't for the fainthearted. To make it less daunting, you must understand the process and what's available to you as a prospective franchisee. Of course, to franchise neophytes, the very idea of researching a franchise may be discouraging. Don't worry. The personal courage and insight you need can be found in a variety of sources: books, consulting services . . . even former presidents. Don't laugh. Here, in the classic maxims of our previous leaders, we find insights that ring as true in the world of franchising as in the political arena. Our leaders offer more than two centuries of sound advice that can make the-let's face it, dry-process of franchise research not only more colorful, but also more memorable.

This article was originally published in the January 2001 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Presidential Secrets.