Julie Lusthaus recently had an article published in Practical Guidance about the franchise disclosure document receipt.
One of the benefits to buying a franchise is that there are other franchisees in the system, as well as other franchisees who have recently left the system. These individuals are operating (or have operated) the very type of business that the prospective franchisee will be operating for the same franchisor. These franchisees are often excellent sources of information for prospective franchisees and can share information with them about the franchise, franchisor, and industry.