In Inc.com, June 2005, (page 24), the heading “Franchising Franchising” seemed a strange one to me. At first, I thought it was just a cool design heading for the Franchising section. But the sub-title really got my attention. “Introducing the first postmodern business model”. A meta-model. A group of investors have banded together to seek out business opportunities that have franchise potential. They purchase the rights to the franchise opportunity, then sell the franchises and provide ongoing support as if they were the franchise principals. The founders get paid royalties, the franchise franchisers get royalties and fees.
Its the entrepreneurs equivalent of hedge funds and derivative investments. It could be very clever in the future, or it could sink a few entrepreneurs who chase the big bucks now, but sell their futures short.
