There are many would-be entrepreneurs who never start their own business because of the risks involved. With any business start-up there is a risk of failure; choosing a well designed franchise business greatly reduces that risk. The best franchise business opportunities are those with a proven track record of helping novice entrepreneurs start and stabilize an exact copy of an already proven business plan. After all, if you already knew what you were doing, you wouldn't need a franchise. If you already knew what you were doing, you would probably be starting your own franchise business - - and selling franchises to others.

Some franchising experts say that the best way to judge the quality of a franchise business opportunity is through the size of the franchise fee. Not in the simplistic sense of "a good one costs more", or in another simplistic sense of "the cheaper the better". Ignoring for the moment that the word "franchise" comes from the French word for "free", they say that the franchising fee gives you a look into the motives of the franchisor. Are they trying to make a quick buck by selling thousands of expensive franchises? Or have they set a medium and reasonable price for their franchise that just covers their costs and discourages those who are insufficiently motivated to make the franchise work?

With the best franchise business opportunities you find a franchisor who thinks of his franchisees in much the same way he would think of an affiliate. In fact, a good franchise business and a good affiliate business have a lot in common. The good franchisor realizes that the better his franchisees do, the more money he'll make. He is constantly looking for ways to empower his franchisees and thinks of them as his sales force. He spends money advertising the franchise, thinks up marketing promotions that will assist his franchisees, and employs a roving team of experts to help fledgling franchisees - - and those who are not doing well - - get their businesses moving.

As with almost anything these days, the Internet provides a free and useful tool you can use to help narrow down your search for the best franchise business opportunities. You can use it to track down other people who have paid the price and tried to make a go of it with any particular franchise.

In fact, with any successful franchise you're likely to be able to go straight to their Web site and use a "store locator" to find franchisees all over the country. If you send an email to a few of them, and make it clear that you're not in their area, some of them will get back to you and tell you everything you need to know about that franchisor. It's really amazing how just little bit of research effort can provide a wealth of information these days.