Remodeling Franchise Northampton MA

Source: REPLACEMENT CONTRACTOR Magazine
Publication date: November 1, 2005

By Jay Holtzman

Drive through any U.S. city or town of size and you'll see them: McDonald's, Burger King, and Subway, Pro-Cuts and Supercuts, Jiffy Lube, Re/Max, The UPS Store. Franchises one and all. Franchising sales in the U.S. alone exceeded $1 trillion in 2000, with more than half a million business units generating some 8 million jobs, the International Franchise Association reports. Franchising will soon account for more than half of all U.S. retail sales, the organization claims.

Home improvement contractors and the general public tend to lump franchises and dealerships together, but they're not the same. A franchise involves a particular legal form that spells out the responsibilities and obligations between parties and is regulated by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Dealerships are more informal arrangements, ranging from verbal agreements to more structured written forms, and are not regulated by the FTC.

“A franchise tends to be a strategic partnership,” explains Doug Dwyer, president of the DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen by Worldwide remodeling franchise, in Waco, Texas. A dealership, he says, is a company selling a product to build a brand name for that product. “With a franchise, you're looking at a more fully integrated business system. It's not just an agreement to represent a product. [The franchisee]...

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