Rob Lancit on franchising
Franchising in real life.
Not the pitch. What Rob Lancit has written down from each seat at the table: real decisions, real numbers where he gave them, and the mistakes he says he would not repeat.What Rob Lancit has written down from each seat at the table.
The idea
What franchising looks like after the pitch.
Every franchise is sold with a story. The brochure, the discovery day and the sales call are all built to show the system at its best, and none of that is dishonest; it is simply the version of the business that exists before anyone has signed. Franchising in real life is the other version: what the first year costs, what the support turns out to mean when something breaks, what an owner says about the brand three years in, and what the people who left would tell a buyer if anyone asked them.
Rob Lancit has spent more than 30 years on the inside of that gap, as a consultant, franchisor, franchisee, area developer, supplier and executive. He has sat on the side of the table that sells the franchise and on the side that buys it, and the lessons he writes about come from those seats, with the decisions, the numbers where he gave them, and the mistakes he says he would not repeat.
That is the point of this page. It gathers what Rob has published about franchising as it actually happens, sorted by the seat it is written from, so a buyer, an owner or a franchise executive can find the real-life version of the question they are asking.
Why it matters
The real-life questions are the expensive ones.
The questions that decide whether a franchise works are rarely the ones a pitch answers. A buyer asks about fees and territory; the real-life questions are how long it takes before the business covers its own costs, what the franchisor actually does the first time an owner has a serious problem, and whether the owners who left would buy again. Federal disclosure rules make some of that findable: the FTC Franchise Rule requires a disclosure document with the names of current owners and of those who left in the last fiscal year, delivered at least fourteen days before anyone signs. Reading it, and calling those owners, is how a buyer finds out what the business looks like in real life.
The same is true from the other side of the table. A franchisor that recruits the wrong owner pays for it in a struggling location, in support time and, eventually, in what that owner tells the next buyer on a validation call. Rob has written about chasing fewer, better leads and about knowing your best owners, because in real life those are the decisions that compound.
Where this stops
Real life is not a forecast.
Nothing on this page is a promise about what a franchise will earn. Any statement about what a location sells or makes belongs in Item 19 of a franchisor’s disclosure document, with its basis, or nowhere. Real-life lessons help a reader ask better questions; they do not replace a franchise attorney, an accountant or the owners on the disclosure lists, and one person’s experience, however long, is still one person’s experience.
Read it the way Rob talks about the book: true stories, and the lesson each one cost. Then go and check them against the business in front of you.
The buyer
From the buyer’s seat.
What someone deciding whether to buy needs to know before the money moves.
Who Thrives In Franchising And Who Doesn’t
Rob Lancit wrote this in September 2025 against a weak job market.
Read it Forbes · Nov 2025Paying For A Franchise: Considerations To Help Entrepreneurs Avoid Regret
Rob Lancit writes that most buyers do not have the purchase price in cash and that many know only the conventional ways to borrow.
Read it Entrepreneur · Sep 2025How to Read a Franchise Disclosure Document
Rob Lancit calls the Franchise Disclosure Document the most important thing a buyer reviews and then goes through it in order.
Read it Forbes · Oct 2025Why Validation Plays Such An Important Role In Franchise Recruitment
Rob Lancit places validation in the sequence of buying a franchise.
Read it Franchise Business Review · Nov 2025What Are Discovery Days and How Do Different Brands Do Them?
Franchise Business Review host Michelle Rowan interviews three development leaders about discovery day, the step where a franchise candidate meets the brand.
Read itThe franchisor
From the franchisor’s seat.
How a brand finds, sells to and supports the people who carry its name.
Want Better Franchise Candidates? Start by Chasing Fewer Leads
Rob Lancit starts from a crowded field: as many as 4,000 franchise concepts in the United States competing for the same qualified buyers.
Read it Entrepreneur · Aug 2024You Won’t Have a Strong Sales Pitch Until You Follow These 6 Pitch Strategies
Rob Lancit begins with the old line that buyers are buying the seller as much as the product, and builds a three-part method on it: audit the pitch, retool it, then relaunch it.
Read it Entrepreneur · Mar 2025How You Can Develop Standout Franchisees in Your Network
Rob Lancit asks franchisors how well they know their best owners, the ones they think of first when a validation request comes in.
Read itMasters and multi-unit
When one owner holds more.
What changes when an owner holds a region or several locations.
How to Invigorate Growth and Balance Control in Your Business With This Franchising Model
Rob Lancit explains the master franchisee model and why not every franchisor should use it.
Read it Entrepreneur · Aug 2025How to Unlock the Potential of Multi-Unit Franchise Ownership
Rob Lancit opens with scale: nearly 850,000 franchise establishments in the United States, almost half of them run by owners with more than one location.
Read itEvery day
From the owner’s chair.
The habits that decide whether a business keeps its customers and its people.
Why It’s More Important Than Ever To Hold Yourself Accountable
Rob Lancit opens by calling for an end to what he names blame game culture.
Read it LinkedIn · Jan 2026An airline surprise on a layover, and what it says about franchise brands
Rob Lancit reposts a travel story because he worked out why it stayed with him.
Read it
The book
The same idea, outside franchising.
Take My Advice, I’m Not Using It: true stories from Rob’s life, each ending with the lesson it cost.
Paperback $19.95 · eBook $9.99 Publisher list prices. BookBaby and Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, the team behind this site earns from qualifying purchases.
Speaking and podcasts
Put Rob in front of your room.
Conferences, franchise system meetings, association events, leadership offsites and podcasts. Send the date and the audience; a person replies.