1: You must be prepared to work much harder than you did working for someone else

Some people who have never been in business for themselves think that tending store is easy. For instance, seeing that breakfast restaurants are open only four hours a day but pull in tens of thousands of NT dollars a month, they may be eager to try their hand at it. Only after they actually open the franchise do they discover that they've got to get up at 4:00 a.m. to brew black tea and make sandwiches, and that they must then stand for four straight hours when the restaurant is open from 5:00 to 9:00. Their feet and hands grow sore, and their backs get strained from all the carrying. They end up regretting their decision.

2: Don't open a franchise without being committed to success

Because investing in a franchise usually requires a relatively small investment (in the NT$300,000-400,000 range), some people approach it with a half-hearted attitude: "I'll give it a try. If it doesn't work out, it won't be any great loss anyway." The loss of the money may not matter much to them, but it's a shame that they waste time and an opportunity to learn something.

Some parents worry as they see an adult child flit about aimlessly from job to job, changing employment perhaps as often as 20 times in a year. So they shell out their own money to buy a franchise store, which they give to their child to manage. The result is that the child shows only lukewarm enthusiasm, and the parents have to invest a lot of time and energy helping out. Even the staff from the chain's general headquarters who come by to provide direction can't help but feel sad upon witnessing this situation.

3: Choose the right chain

One of the reasons for buying a franchise is to "obtain the shelter that a big tree provides." Hence, the tree's ability to shield the wind and rain is of paramount importance. Some chains have "one-person headquarters" and even lack corporate licenses, let alone systems know-how or marketing teams. Their products may be less than outstanding, and being eager to gain franchising fees, they may open too many branches too close to each other, leaving the franchise owners to take the fall. With this kind of headquarters, it's easy to become a "franchise orphan." If the corporate structure is unstable, it's just a matter of time before the entire chain falls apart.

4: Get with the program

Running a store is an experience of a thousand complications and frustrations, and hence it is easier for people with a lot of work experience, as opposed to those who have just entered the workforce. Yet when people retire from some fields and then take over a franchise, they will often say, "There's nothing I haven't seen; what do I need you to teach me?" Or they may decide to march to the beat of their own drummer and disregard the chain's guidelines about stock, recipes, and pricing, and ignore chain-wide activities or promotions sponsored by headquarters. As a result, they lose the advantages of the chain, but feel restricted by its confining aspects. The whole point of being a franchise has been lost.

5: If you want to hang out your own shingle, first realistically consider your own strengths

Voluntary franchises are business relationships that are easy to break, and when the time comes to part, the party who opened the franchise needn't worry about breaking arcane clauses of a contract, but can simply pull down the chain's sign. As a result, some of those who open a franchise aim to make it a "learning experience," with the intention of later opening a store or even a chain of their own. Particularly when the headquarters isn't supplying a steady stream of new value-added products or technologies, it is easy for those with franchises to gripe: "Who couldn't manage a headquarters like this one?" or "Why should I put my store under someone else's sign?"

But if you want to hang out your own shingle, you've got to carefully weigh your own strengths. Unless you have a unique product, lower prices, higher quality products, or extremely loyal clients, rashly deciding to go it alone may end up causing you a lot of grief. When all is said and done, consumers like to shop at stores with familiar names. The notion that "the big get bigger, while the small get specialized" seems as true as ever.