centre on a basic premise where big bad company has all this intellectual property and for a fee they let you use it. In the jargon of the industry, you are buying a "business system" which has been a proven success in other places.

Trouble is this fee is grotesquely large and even though they are a massive corporation they make you take all the risk.

McDonald's franchisees for example must have millions of dollars private wealth and pony up many hundreds of thousands of dollars for the fit-out of a store and for every possible charge. They must then buy everything from the the corporation - even if they find a cheaper, better supply elsewhere. Part of the racket is owning the real estate so they can charge those that have taken the franchise opportunities they offer a fortune in rent.

Here's some ugly facts for you about Mickey D's:

The total cost required can vary from half a million to $1,500,000.

It just doesn't add up.

With the chain having an insane number of stores in the United States, it's not like you're the only one.

It's an enormous non-financial commitment too. There's over a year's training which is a huge chunk of anyone's life.

Once the business is up and running, you then pay a fixed percentage of monthly sales, which would be probably at least half of the monthly profit in the business.

By contrast you could buy into an internet business where there's no franchise fees to pay and you own the whole business all for yourself rather than paying large sums of your hard earned to a big corporate.

There are hundreds of these opportunities around. You'll kick yourself if you make the most of this.