Purchasing an ABA franchise is a significant financial and career choice.
A sales presentation and website designed specifically for the franchise can detail the model, investment level, training, and support available to prospective franchise owners. However, there is another rich source of information: people already working in the business.
Current ABA franchise owners can provide a window into what ownership really looks like.
Find out what happened and discover which problems were more difficult than anticipated.
These conversations should complement your formal due diligence, not substitute for it. Information such as the Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD), finances, professional counsel, and your own research of the details will always represent an essential component of a prudent franchise selection process.
This is not about finding an owner.
We are hoping to learn from the experience of having been through it already.
A franchise owner’s experience can reveal what happens at each stage of the process:
Ask owners to walk you through their experience from beginning to present day.
These answers can help turn a theoretical franchise model into a more realistic picture of ownership.
Your conversations with franchise owners can also help you compare what you heard during the franchise evaluation process with what owners actually experienced.
For example, if you were told that site selection would be heavily supported, ask an existing owner what that support looked like in practice.
If staffing was presented as a major focus, ask how much help they actually received with recruiting and retaining employees.
You are looking for patterns, not isolated comments.
Start by understanding the financial reality of opening the clinic.
There can be a meaningful difference between an estimated investment and the actual cash required to open and operate a new clinic.
Costs can vary based on location, facility, construction requirements, staffing, local expenses, and other factors.
Instead of asking only, “How much did you invest?” ask the owner to explain where the money went.
That can help you understand which expenses were predictable, which changed, and how much financial cushion was needed during the startup period.
Financing is another area where an existing franchise owner can provide useful perspective.
Do not focus exclusively on how much an owner borrowed.
Ask about the process of financing the business and what they learned about managing cash during the startup period.
For example, an owner may explain that maintaining adequate working capital was more important than initially expected, or that certain expenses required more planning.
Those insights can be much more useful than a simple statement about the size of their loan.
Once financing is addressed, find out what it actually took to get the doors open.
Ask:
Ask owners to identify the point when the process became most challenging.
Their answers can help you understand where you may need to dedicate additional time and attention.
This should be one of the most important areas of your conversation.
A franchise system can offer extensive resources on paper, but the experience of using those resources matters.
Ask:
Ask:
You need to know not only if support exists, but how it works when you really want something.
Hiring an ABA franchise has different operational and clinical considerations.
Ask:
These questions can help clarify the relationship between the business side of ownership and the clinical professionals operating within the clinic.
Ask:
Marketing support is great, but local execution matters. A current owner can highlight what performed well in their market and what required extra focus.
Staffing is one of the most important operational considerations when planning how to start an ABA clinic, as having qualified professionals in place is essential for delivering consistent, high-quality care and managing daily operations.
Ask:
Do not stop at “Is hiring difficult?”
Ask the more revealing question:
“How much of your time goes into recruiting, training, scheduling, and retaining your clinical team?”
That answer can give you a much clearer picture of the management responsibilities involved in running an ABA clinic.
A clinic needs clients to build its caseload and support ongoing operations.
Ask:
Pay attention to whether the owner describes growth as primarily driven by franchisor support, local relationships, staffing capacity, market demand, or a combination of factors.
That can help you understand what you may need to contribute personally.
Financial conversations require care.
Instead of asking only, “How much money do you make?”, ask broader questions about the financial performance of the business.
Remember that every franchisee operates under different circumstances.
Differences can include:
Therefore, one franchisee’s financial results should not be treated as a prediction of your own results.
When evaluating financial performance, prospective franchisees should review the applicable financial-performance information in the FDD rather than relying solely on informal conversations with franchise owners.
Also Read: Best ABA Therapy Franchise Comparison for Investors
When deciding whether to buy a business, financial performance is only one aspect.
You also need to understand what your life might look like after you start.
Ask:
One especially valuable question is:
“If you could go back to the day before you signed your franchise agreement, what would you want to know?”
Give the owner time to answer. Do not immediately move to your next question.
Sometimes the most useful information comes from an answer you did not expect.
Your relationship with the franchisor can continue for years, so ask about more than the opening process.
Consider asking:
The purpose is not to find a franchise system with which every owner agrees on every issue.
No business relationship works that way.
Instead, look at how disagreements are handled and whether franchisees feel they have a meaningful channel for communication.
Do not make your conversations entirely positive.
Some of the most useful information may come from mistakes, setbacks, and unexpected challenges.
Ask:
Pay attention to what an owner says when they describe a bad experience.
Even if those factors constitute a challenge, it’s far from conclusive proof that the franchise wasn’t a good investment. No new business comes without its difficulties.
You want to focus on what happened, how it was resolved, and if the experience will likely be relevant to you.
Do not base your entire evaluation on one conversation.
Different franchisees can give you different perspectives.
Ask newer owners about:
They can give you a relatively recent view of the launch process.
Ask established owners about:
They can help you understand what happens after the excitement of opening has passed.
Ask:
Remember that successful owners may have unique circumstances, so do not assume their exact results can be replicated.
Try to speak with owners operating in markets that resemble the one you are considering.
Compare factors such as:
A franchisee operating in a very different market may provide useful insight, but a comparable market can make that insight more relevant to your own planning.
Conversations with franchise owners are valuable, but they are only one part of the due-diligence process.
The Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) should remain a central document in your evaluation.
Use conversations with franchisees to help you understand the practical experience behind the information in the FDD.
If an owner tells you something that appears substantially different from what you read in the franchise documents, do not simply choose one version.
Investigate the difference.
Ask the franchisor for clarification and discuss the issue with an experienced franchise attorney or qualified financial advisor.
SOS provides information about its franchise opportunity and support system, but prospective franchisees should conduct their own independent due diligence before making an investment decision.
Speaking with existing ABA franchise owners can reveal details that are not always obvious from a website, brochure, or franchise presentation.
Ask about money, financing, startup, staffing, support, operations, growth, challenges, and the day-to-day owner experience.
Then speak with more than one owner.
Talk to newer franchisees. Talk to established franchisees. Talk to owners in markets that resemble yours. If possible, speak with franchisees whose business circumstances are meaningfully different so you can identify which challenges are common and which may be unique.
Most importantly, look for patterns.
And remember that these conversations do not replace the FDD or professional due diligence. Use them together.
The right ABA franchise investment should make sense financially, operationally, and personally.
If you are considering SOS, talking with existing franchise owners can help you better understand what it means to build and operate an ABA clinic within the SOS system.
Learn more about the investment, franchise model, support system, and next steps for opening your own ABA clinic with SOS franchising.
Do not automatically dismiss either answer. Ask additional franchisees about the same issue, compare the circumstances, and review the FDD. Differences may result from location, timing, business size, or individual experience.
Look for patterns across multiple owners and markets. Consider whether similar results are supported by the applicable financial-performance information in the FDD rather than assuming one owner’s experience will apply to you.
Yes. Former franchisees can provide another perspective on why they left the system. Compare their experiences with those of current owners and investigate any recurring concerns.
Ask how the agreement affects daily operations, fees, renewal, obligations, restrictions, and the franchise relationship. For legal interpretation, consult a qualified franchise attorney.
Create a simple comparison covering investment, financing, opening, staffing, support, marketing, operations, growth, challenges, and owner workload. Look for recurring themes rather than relying on a single positive or negative experience.
The SOS Franchise Editorial Team shares insights and guidance for aspiring and current ABA clinic owners on franchising, operations, and growth with SOS Franchising.
