Measuring future income
If you’ve already decided to buy a franchise (not to think about some kind of new business invented by yourself) you are going to make some calculations. And the first thing is your potential income or profit.
 It’s evident that your future profit depends at least on 3 things:
1. Type or sphere of business.
2. Your activity (right and wrong decisions).
3. Your franchisor (what he is going to do in order to help you earning money).
 Certainly, you will easily get this information in six months after starting-up. But what to do now? Can you get at least approximate information? Franchisors are not demanded to make earnings claims. If they do, that claims have to be reasonable and well-founded. If your intuition suggests nothing (especially when it’s your first franchise in life or you previously had bad experience) I think the following criteria can be useful while evaluating earnings claims
1. At first look at the other franchisees. Are there many of them or only few small ones? If nobody wants to buy this franchise maybe they have the reasons you don’t know….
2. Look at the franchisees’ income but not only read the sums but also make your own calculations. Don’t make your decision using average numbers. Look at the typical franchisee because one but very successful company can increase the average income dramatically. But its success can be something uncommon (maybe not more than luck). The same thing has to be taken into consideration about companies with very low income. If there are few of them but they earn too little it will influence the average. Have I said that You have to look at a typical company?
3. Consider net profits not gross profits or total revenue. Every economist can prove you that these indicators have very little in common.
4. Remember that income differs depending on territory and the country.
5. Â Franchisees are different by skills, previous experience and know-how. All this can impact earnings. Have I said that You have to look at a typical company? 
