When you begin your franchise due diligence process of determining whether a particular franchise is right for you, you will need to contact current and past franchise business owners. This part of the process is referred as validation. During validation you speak with the owners and get their perspective.

Following are a list of questions to ask current franchise owners:

How long have you been in business?

Would you make the same decision again?
How is corporate support?
Are your earnings meeting your expectations?
What profit margin can I expect? – year 1, year 2, year 3
How long did it take you to break even?
Any unforeseen expenses?
What is your biggest challenge in the business?
How long do you plan to stay in this business?
What do you wish you would have known when you started?

What is the best thing about this company?

As you can see, these are the basic questions that will help you see beyond the surface of any franchise. With the help of a franchise consultant you will be able to find the answers, helping you make the right decision, thus making validation an extremely important step of the franchise due diligence process.