Interestingly, in many franchise operations, you are paying not just for access to brand and supplier relationships, but for that mighty operations manual. In

Interestingly, in many franchise operations, you are paying not just for access to brand and supplier relationships, but for that mighty operations manual. In effect, you are paying for the right to use their vetted process for your own business. Some of the contracts reserve the right to sue if you leave the franchise, set up your own business with very different brands and suppliers, maybe even a different vertical... but still can be shown to be using their process.