setting up a franchise business - selfgrowth.com - skip the dishes restaurant fee

When I left my job as a manager at a well-known restaurant in Las Vegas and moved to Denver, my dream was to open my own restaurant.
We were lucky and profitable in the market before the real estate market collapsed and I was eager to be my own boss.
I started working on all possible scenarios for the right business opportunity.
These possibilities seem endless, and we are optimistic about our dream of finally achieving financial freedom in the future.
Independence or joining?
I began to seriously study what is best for getting up and running.
I 've been in the hospitality industry long enough, and I know restaurants usually face a tough battle to survive.
However, I have more than 10 years in this industry and know one or two things, and I think so.
If I buy an existing booth, my research is over.
"Safer bet" to start from scratch or explore franchise opportunities ".
Although I know how to run an existing restaurant, I have no experience starting from scratch.
I don't know about negotiating leases, hiring contractors, looking for funds, etc.
I quickly started self-education and found that there is a world in which knowledge is needed.
A few months later, my attention turned to the franchise.
There is a famous sandwich chain, which is quite low in cost.
The initial cost is $25,000, and the total cost depends on whether you bought an existing store or built it yourself.
We chose to build our own house.
Wow, everything is fine now.
Our own store and our chosen location (from the list of websites provided by the franchisee ).
The franchisee did a lot of guessing work in the process.
They provide a list of contractors they trust and have used before.
Information is provided on who will be used to obtain the permit, the payroll, the food distributor, and other aspects.
As promised, the franchisee took out the work of guessing from it and showed you how to get it up and running.
Rubber had normal problems during construction, we opened the door six months later than expected, but we knew there would be bumps on the road.
Our opening was a disaster, bad weather, road construction and slow customer recognition.
High cost: rental, opening costs, loan costs, exceptionally high food costs (part of the franchisee's ownership of food dealers) and last but not least franchise fees.
When we opened, our joining fee was 9%.
In the business where profits are very tight, this is huge.
However, soon after our opening, the franchisee raised the cost to 11%.
They have this right in the franchise agreement because of increased advertising!
We soon discovered that we were not the real owners.
We are at the mercy of franchisees and we lose a lot of cash.
After the first year of operation, I tried to sell;
However, we can't find any buyers at any price.
We had to close the door and lost about $250,000.
The franchisee has a "plan" to help a troubled franchise, but any request to seek help, temporarily reduce the cost of the franchise or help find a buyer is ignored.
Finally, we may have chosen the wrong concept, location or time to open our restaurant.
I think the franchise is a viable option but the buyer should be careful.