Pros
No recourse financing(However,Low customer approval rate) Corporate Employees seem to understand your pain.
Cons
Backorders,low credit approval rate for customers, outdated and non-user friendly pos software, upper management is out of touch with reality, they do not listen to franchisees. LAST to the market with new products( CORNWELL would offer a new product at least 6 months after our competitors would begin selling it!! By the time we could get it, my customers already had it and Cornwell was charging more for it. The only option was to buy it "outside" from a warehouse. This kept your customers happy but hurt your purchase average from Cornwell. NATIONAL FRANCHISE MINUMUM PURCHASE REQUIREMENT. When I started the National Franchise mininum purchase requirement was only $1700 at cost per week. I bought an average of $3,000 per week for 5 years. Over that 5 year period , the required purchase minimum went up from $1,700 per week to $4,800 per week! Yes it almost tripled. My route only supported $2,500 to $3,000 per week. This average is done nationally, not locally. So if a dealer in New York is buying $20,000 per week, he runs up the national average for your route. They sent me a letter saying that I had 30 days to "cure". They wanted me to buy $38,000 of tools in the next 30 days or my franchise would be terminated. Needless to say I self-terminated and here's the dumbest part: They have'nt replaced me!! It's been almost 2 years and the territory is still open. Now they are getting $0 per week. They don't even care. They don't want to grow or retain dealers. DON'T DO IT, STAY AWAY FROM THIS ARCHAIC COMPANY.!!