The Franchise Disclosure Documents (FDD) are the documents provided to a prospective franchisee.  The disclosures of these documents are required by law, but since they are not considered public information, the numbers may not be reflective of actual earnings.  Only around 25% of parent companies publish their claimed earnings in the FDD.  Most consider publishing this information as dangerous, perhaps allowing competitors too much insight into how they are doing or giving a new franchise owner a misconstrued vision of future profits.  These numbers, if you can get them, may not be very helpful to you as a prospective franchisee anyway.  Average profits from many diverse locations are not necessarily going to be indicative of your experience with the franchise.  You will have to consider all the variables that can lead to success or failure.  Your management style, the local competition, the location, and the general health of the market are all factors that will ultimately determine your own success as a business owner.  Even franchises located within similar markets can show marked differences in performance.  You must also be wary of the franchisor using its superior performing franchises as the example.  Typically these only represent around 20-25% of the franchisees.  The FDD may give you valuable insights into a franchise, just use the information wisely.

Michael Monnot

941.518.7138
Mike@InfinityBusinessBrokers.com