Question: Summarize the points made in the lecture, being sure to explain how they cast doubt on specific points made in the reading passage.
Now listen to part of a lecture on the topic you just read about. Professor: Many people think that if you want to go into business for yourself, it's best to buy a franchise. But recently a study looked closely at franchises, and some of the findings call that idea into question. One interesting point was that many franchise contracts force franchise owners to ... to buy very specific goods and services, and those goods and services tend to be overpriced. In other words, even though there are equivalent goods and services available in the market, uh, that are considerably cheaper, the owners aren't allowed to buy them. Another point was about advertising. When you buy a franchise, you agree to pay up to six percent of your sum total in sales—that's quite a lot of money. One thing you're supposed to get in return for this money is that the company does the advertising for you. But the company doesn't advertise your business. What gets advertised is the company's brand, the company's products, which are sold by many other businesses in many other places. It turns out, individual franchise owners mostly get very little benefit—much less than they would get by spending even half that money to advertise their own business directly. Finally, the biggest issue: security. Starting a franchise is not the most secure option out there. True, it's less risky than starting an independent business. But there's a third option that the passage didn't talk about. You can buy an already existing independent business from a previous owner. And the study showed that independent businesses bought from previous owners have twice as much chance of success during the first four years as franchises.
