Start your own business with a franchise: the BFA is an excellent source of independent advice on franchising. Director general Brian Smart lays out the ground rules for potential franchisees.(British Franchise Association)

Buying a franchise gives you the opportunity to run your own business, along proven methods and possibly in an industry in which your have no previous experience. The variety of types of business and levels of investment on offer is enormous, and it is important therefore that you take your time and do your homework first. Although the failure rate in franchising is much lower than that in many other new businesses--93 per cent of franchisees in 2001 reported profitability--there are still risks involved, and it will be very hard work, particularly in the first years.

In buying a business format franchise, you are buying the right to run a system that someone else has …