Franchises are a hassle. I worked at Jimmy Johns for years and I remember my boss hating all the restrictions that they had. The only good thing about it was that he was making good money and that the business had name recognition. But if you want to start a business where you are the boss and you make your own rules and your own procedures, then a franchise might not be for you. I can only speak for Jimmy Johns franchises, but about once a month they send a corporate coach to review your store and see what you're doing wrong. They give you a percentage score and if you get lower than 70 or 80% they put your on probation and threaten to shut you down if you don't correct your mistakes. When customers complain, they usually complain to corporate so the only way you find out about customer complaints are when your corporate coach sends you an email chewing you out. Then there's also the downfall of buying everything overpriced because you have to buy all your supplies and inventory from Jimmy Johns, so you're stuck paying $10 for a knife that would cost $5 or $6 at your local supply store. That's just the franchise's way of making $4 off of you.

So if you want to start a business where you want the freedom to insert your own ideas and start from scratch and are willing to be patient to build up a clientele, you're better off starting your own thing. If all you really care about is making money and want to own something that already has name recognition and you don't mind following someone else's rules and procedures, then maybe a franchise is for you.