Franchise or Start-up? What is the right way to go?

COL Lee Flemming ,
Me personally, I would rather transition into an established model, because I am not even going to kid myself or anyone else for that matter, that I have the entrepreneurial spirit. Which is why I am posturing to be Amazon.com's next Chief Marketing Officer after Neil Lindsey retires.

I started 6 years ago with just an idea and it blossomed into 8 1/2 million followers and potential clients. what I do is, I advertise for free but anything past that I charge. yeah, yeah , I know Free is wrong but if you open the door to the candy shop and let them in, without charging, they will buy the candy and come back. charge for coming in and buying the candy, well kind of defeats the purpose...Yes, I have paying clients as well .

I've been thinking a lot about this as I will have to transition one day and start my own practice (start up), buy in with one (similar to franchise) or fall in line and work for someone else.
I get that branding and funding and OCM is already established with a franchise, but even these fail so I'm hesitant call it a proven model. Even casinos and liquor stores can go out of business.

Now if I had a solid plan but with a unique twist, I would not be able to use my personal experience or knowledge to change or upgrade their OCM. That is a serious point to consider.

I appreciate RP for discussions like this and look forward to following this conversation thread.