Wall Street Journal:

Discerning investors who want unvarnished information about a franchise before buying often peruse blogs for franchisees’ gripes or concerns. Now, there’s another item to consult: the franchisee-satisfaction survey.

At least two firms, Franchise Research Institute and Franchise Business Review, query existing franchisees in dozens of systems on their satisfaction levels and publish the results of those polls on their Web sites. Such research – typically funded by the franchise itself – may be a telling indication of how well a franchise system is working, or whether it should be avoided. The reports can be purchased for $24.95 on Franchise Research Institute’s site, www.fransurvey.com, but are available for free on Franchise Business Review’s, www.franchisebusinessreview.com, if franchisers agree to post them.

Both firms survey franchisees on a confidential basis, to assure them they won’t be identified and possibly punished for expressing their true feelings. Both also seek to survey most of a system’s franchisees to verify that the opinions are representative rather than those of a few grouches.

Read full article.

Photo: Matt Sherman / Three Pillars Media.

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