Dunkin' Donuts Franchise - A Good or Bad Investment?

Yesterday, I wrote a blog post about the Dunkin' Donuts franchise and received the following comment:

You are “not sure if opening a Dunkin Donuts is such a good idea”.

Why because they require 1.5 Million Net worth?

Or is because it’s not one of the deals you sell?

Comment by Jim — May 6, 2008

I was just going to reply to this comment but as I was writing back my reply I realized the importance of this topic and decided to post it to my blog. I want to start off by saying that the following statement... "I am not sure if opening a Dunkin' Donuts franchise is such a great idea" is just my opinion based on what the company is doing to their franchisees.

If you want to understand the story in full I suggest you read the article Dunkin' Donuts business practices have lots of holes on the New York Daily News website and make your own judgement.

I do want to answer Jim's question by saying...

A franchisee / franchisor relationship should be a solid relationship with one goal, the success of the franchise. Would you want to tie up $750,000 in cash to open a Dunkin' Donuts, take the risk of being sued by them and possibly be forced to sell your locations?

Just to give you an idea of how many times Dunkin' Donuts has sued their franchisees in comparison to other franchises I have provided the information below:

Lawsuits between franchisor and franchise:

• Subway - Aprox. 29,000 locations - 12 lawsuits since 2006
• McDonald's - Aprox. 22,500 locations - 5 lawsuits since 2006
• Dunkin' Donuts - Aprox. 7,900 locations - 154 lawsuits since 2006

Dunkin' Donuts has about 21,000 less locations than Subway and 14,500 less than McDonald's but has been involved in over 140 more lawsuits than both companies.

To answer Jim's other question, I do not "sell" franchises. I provide information on many different franchise companies and other small businesses to help individuals open their own franchise or small business.

You can read more about the benefits of opening a Dunkin' Donuts franchise by reading my Dunkin' Donuts Franchise Review.

Also, I have added a poll to our Franchise Forums called Is a Dunkin' Donuts Franchise a Good Investment? where you can vote and also view what others have to say about opening a Dunkin' Donuts franchise.

Other Great Topics:
Is Buying a Franchise Buying a Job?
How Safe is Buying a Franchise?
Dunkin’ Donuts Franchise Review
Dunkin' Donuts Coffee Review