Buying a franchise is a significant business decision beyond just your financial future; it will affect your daily life, work-life balance, and your family's future. Before the franchisor's assessment of potential franchisees, and even before asking yourself which franchise area would be right for you, analyze yourself to see whether you have what it takes to be a successful franchisee.

Give yourself the equivalent of the franchisor's interview of franchisees. Determine whether you have the strengths and skills to thrive in the franchise system with a checklist of questions prepared by experts.

Read full story: Franchisee Self-Analysis

Franchise or not, starting your own small business requires long hours, and often longer workdays than at your previous jobs. When choosing a franchise opportunity, all prospective franchisees must consider the large time commitment. Since you are the key to your own success in this industry, you will likely find that you push yourself to put in those hours.

Holidays, schedules, and workweeks can also differ by industry. See what different common franchise areas require in terms of time and schedule.

Read full story: The Franchise Workday: Setting Work Hours

When Facebook announced its $1 billion dollar purchase of Instagram, people were shocked by the sheer price, especially for a young startup with no revenue of its own. But Instagram is an undeniable success story, having taken the mobile app world by storm and attracting the eye of a giant like Facebook.

While most small business owners may be far from a similar payday, there are useful lessons from the Facebook-Instagram deal. See what tips small business can learn from the social media transaction.

Read full story: What Small Business Owners Can Learn from the Instagram Deal

While product placement in movies and television shows has been a common advertising tactic for years, the practice in use ranges from subtle, nearly subliminal, to obtrusive, and at worst, commercial-like. Franchises and other large-scale businesses look to market their products in new ways, and often find results through trial and error. One marketing error that all franchises can learn from is McDonald's product placement movie Mac and Me.

Essentially a 95-minute-long McDonald's commercial, Mac and Me was a 1988 sci-fi film geared for family audiences that pulled in $6.4M in the box office. See how far embedded marketing has come by comparing it to the failures of Mac and Me.

Read full story: Product Placement at Its Worst: McDonald's in Mac and Me