Business ProfileforFloor Coverings International, LTD.

I do not recommend this Franchise and Franchisor.While it is possible to make a decent living, it is rare and very few franchisees actually are. Fellow franchisees are all great people! I consider many of them to be friends and I hope they are all successful. In general, I think only 15-20% of franchisees are still in business after 3 years. It is very difficult to know exact numbers as people simply disappear and you only have their now-deleted FCI email address. I know of only one Franchisee from my original training class that is still in business. *** typical annual meeting topic is "Do you know what happened to_____?". Of the 'surviving' franchisees, I believe only about 20% are making what they thought they would when they bought their franchise. *** rest make just enough to keep their heads above water.Specific issues for potential franchisees to consider:1. Your material costs are higher than your competitors due to rebates given directly to the franchisor. 2. Franchisor can't/won't tell you what the demographics of a good territory looks like. ***y let me choose my territory and all they cared about was that I didn't exceed the population target by too much.3. One of the tips they give you when lead flow gets slow is to go to ************ flooring aisle and chat up customers. When you buy into a franchise system, trolling for customers at a competitor's store is not what you expect to get as part of the marketing plan. 4. *** ************ is used for infrastructure projects--not building the brand and advertising as one would expect. 5. Marketing collateral is way overpriced and it is much cheaper to source it locally. Sadly, you can't do that with the original marketing package.6. It can cost more than your original franchise fee to buy your way out.