IN 1997, Patrick and Geraldine Brennan left their jobs to buy a Snap Printing franchise in Dublin for IR£260,000 (€330,000). Four years later, the husband and wife team sold it for IR£1m, having quadrupled turnover.

The couple took a little time off to spend with their six young children and then, four years ago, they bought a Snap Printing shop in Galway for €330,000. There, too, they have quadrupled turnover, to €1.7m this year.

“I’m a complete convert to franchising,” said Patrick Brennan. “I was hesitant at first because I thought I was over-qualified for it. But I knew the guys behind Snap Printing as customers of mine from a previous job and I trusted them. I think that’s the key to success as a franchisee.”

It doesn’t always work out quite so well, however. The software specialist Ken O’Brien left his job with an American multinational company to take up a franchise early last year. He paid €20,000 for the Louth territory of a UK-based computer technical support franchise.

From the beginning, he was disappointed with the level of support available to him. At the same time, materials were not fully adapted for the Irish market and there was less lead-generation than he had expected. After eight months, the British parent company went bust.

“It was a shock, but by the time it went belly-up, I had already begun to understand things were not going to happen as I had thought,” said O’Brien.

None of the six months of research he had undertaken before signing, nor the company presentations and meetings he had attended, had offered any clue as to the outcome.

Thankfully things have turned out well for O’Brien. “I’m still in business. I kept the name, Spear IT, and am working with supplier contacts I got from the franchise and things are starting to nudge in the right direction,” he said.

So how do you establish whether a franchise opportunity is all it’s cracked up to be? “Do your due diligence,” said O’Brien. “Check out the people behind the franchise. The concept I bought into was good, but the business was poorly run.”

Those thinking of franchising should first consider the sector they would like to work in and then talk to the companies operating in it, according to John Green, chairman of the Irish Franchise Association.

Any attempts to pressurise — such as urging you to sign quickly because there are two other interested parties involved — should serve as a warning, said Green. “A reputable franchise business will never give you a hard sell. If you feel you are getting one, walk away.

“A good franchisor will provide a cross reference of franchisees for you to talk to — and make sure you do,” he said. “If a company is reluctant to give out those details, walk away.”

Other signs to watch out for include franchisors that don’t appear to have set application procedures. “It should not be a question of seeing the franchise and signing within days,” Green said. “You should see evidence of an interviewing process, whereby they are interviewing you. A good franchise is ‘awarded’, not just bought.”