There is only one time never to buy a franchise – and that is when you have not undertaken the necessary due diligence required for making the significant financial, legal and emotional commitment inevitably involved.

Readers of this column may be aware that it has been suggested that To every thing there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven. Although some may attribute this proposition to The Byrds’ 1965 hit Turn, Turn, Turn (possibly known to younger readers from the soundtrack of Forrest Gump) the source is in fact the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible. It was Pete Seeger who originally set Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 to music adding only the title phrase turn, turn, turn and the last line -a time for peace, I swear it’s not too late.

Those familiar with Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 or with The Byrds’ cover of the Pete Seeger song will know that the text makes reference to a number of times- a time to be born and to die, to plant and to reap, to kill and to heal, to break down and to build up, to weep and to laugh, to mourn and to dance, to get and to lose – to mention only a few. The reputed author of Ecclesiastes 3 is King Solomon who is renowned for his wisdom. Given that the Bible records that he had 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 Kings 11:1-3) it is perhaps surprising that it is for his wisdom rather than for his management skills that he is remembered.

Unfortunately, King Solomon did not apply his wisdom to franchising – or when not to buy a franchise – but King Solomon, if his recorded form is any guide, would have been wise enough not to specify exactly when these times would be. It falls to your columnist, who has neither the wisdom nor the management skills of Solomon to address, in the remaining words, the editor’s question Is there ever a wrong time to buy a franchise?

There is a wrong time to buy a franchise – but I am sorry that I cannot give you the easy answer such as never in a recession, or never when you have just been retrenched, or never when interest rates go up, or never on a Friday. There is only one time never to buy a franchise – and that is when you have not undertaken the necessary due diligence required for making the significant financial, legal and emotional commitment inevitably involved. Due diligence is not a simple, easy or straightforward process. It involves an informed consideration of the business that is being franchised, of the system through which it is franchised, of the financial factors, of the franchisor’s track record and capacity to deliver, and, of course, of your own preparedness to work within the constraints inherent in the franchise.

The Disclosure Document which must be provided to a prospective franchisee 14 days before the franchise agreement is signed or a non-refundable payment must contain on its first page the statements that Entering into a franchise is a serious undertaking, that Franchising is a business and, like any other business [the business] could fail and, in masterly understatement, the note that in this eventuality this could have consequences for the franchisee. The consequences of business failure – whether of the franchisor or the franchisee – will not be pretty. The Disclosure Document warnings must be taken seriously.

There is a time to buy a franchise. That time is when the prospective franchisee has completed an informed and rigorous due diligence exercise which suggests that the franchise opportunity is viable and realistic. I expect that King Solomon would have given similar advice.