South Africa, June 2 -- The revenue question is the obvious one, but it is not the most important. The real test is what happens to the decisions, the standards and the calls that currently land on your desk because your business has learned, over time, that they should.

If the honest answer involves some version of "it would hold for a week or two, and then..." you are in good company, though that shared experience points to a structural problem worth taking seriously.

The business that cannot run without you

Founder dependency is one of the most common and least discussed constraints facing South African franchisors.

For a brand running between 10 to 30 stores, it typically looks like this:

Why franchising makes this harder to see...