Nothing is certain in life and that goes for franchising, too.
Coffee Culture Café & Eatery sure looks like a winner. Very rich-looking, solid, many happy-smiling faces.
It is important to look past the flash, however. In the growth phase, who sells the offering says a lot about the credibility of the offering.
CJ Woodburn and Associates appears to be the 3rd party sales agent and lists the investment qualifications as:
“- Store hard costs start from $175,000 (this varies depending on size, conditions, landlord and location).
– Franchise Fee (10 years) $20,000.
– Royalty (weekly) 7%.
– Ad Fund (weekly) 2%.”
Weekly (not monthly) payments and no mention of head lease, equipment or product maximum margins.
When I asked a few central Ontario current, multi-year, coffee franchisees about the offering: Does it…
- look like a good deal or
- is it what Richard Solomon defines as a FranWhack?
They were unanimous in their opinion.
Solomon’s The New Franchisor Scam… paper in his Franchise Fraud series is good investment reading. The old bastard sums up:
If you think you can outsmart professional swindlers all by yourself, you really are not smarter than a fifth grader.
Don’t get me started who’s papering this… (ie. “special relationship” CSBFA-based franchise lender)
Posted by Les Stewart 
