Franchise stories thin on content, details

Great Canadian Franchise Stor

ies looked promising. Some of the franchises listed on the cover aren’t widely known to have Canadian roots and others were completely unfamiliar. How disappointing it was to discover this publication to be so light in meaningful content, and not very well written to boot.

The formula allots one chapter to each of the 18 featured franchises, three of which (Crabby Joe’s Tap & Grill, Coffee Culture Café & Eatery and Union Burger) were founded by the same person, Gus Karamountzos.

There is a description of the circumstances that prompted each founder to launch their company, the niche the business seeks to fill and the briefest of allusions to failures or set-backs the business encountered on its path to success.

“We could probably write volumes about the mistakes we’ve made,” says the chapter about M&M Meats, and attributed to founder Mac Voisin, including not using a franchise lawyer at the start and giving away too much territory as a result, but that’s as detailed an explanation any obstacle gets.

Helpfully, a chapter at the back of the book from the Franchise Law Group at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP explains Why Choosing the Right Law Firm is Critical to Your Success in Franchising.

Each chapter concludes with an upbeat testimonial to the merits of franchising, a perky profile of each company’s founder(s) and corporate contact information.