Franchise Information

This page contains lots of information on Franchises in the World of SnowCrash:

  1. AlphabeticalList of Franchises.
  2. List ofFranchises by Subject (ie. Business).
  3. GeneralInformation about Franchises.
  4. A GenericFrachisee Operation.

Page numbers refer to the trade (large size) version of snowcrash, not the paperback.
NC page numbers refer to the Night City Cyberpunk(r) setting by R.Talsorian Games, but remember to tone done the weapons and violence!

Alphabetically

By Business

Amusments Art BandsBanksBar Burbclaves Couriers Electronics Food

Food, fast

Gangs (see also: Police) Highways Hotels Jails Metaverse Police Religions RestaurantsSecurity Security, Technical Services, personal Store Trucking

General Information on Franchisees

Terminology

Chain: all of the franchulets of one franchise.

Franchise: everything: all of the franchulets, all of the trademarks,all of the marketing research, trade secrets, policies and procedures whichmake it work.

Franchisor: the company which owns the trademarks. (McDonald's)

Franchisee: the person who owns the franchulet (or unit). (Ownsone McDonald's)

Franchulet: one store which is part of the franchise chain (orsystem). (One McDonald's restaurant.)

System: sysanym for chain.

Unit: sysanym for franchulet.

Introduction

It is hard to generalize about Franchisees, because there are so many of them. But here are some things to remember:
  1. Each franchulet is designed to be identical to all the others. This always involves having the same SOP (standard operating Proceedure, also called"the manual"). If almost always includes a identical building or facility.If usually includes recruiting and hiring people with similar personalitiesat each franchulet.
  2. Each worker at each franchulet will have a three ring binder which containsthe manual (or SOP) for that job at that frachise. There will also be computercopies. (But you can't put the SOP for starting the computer on the computer,now can you?)
  3. In many frachulets, only the owner can think. Everyone else is a droid.In others, the owner and managers can think (although the managers lessthan the owner). In all cases, however, thinking is a relative term, anddoes not involve doing anything outside the scope of the franchise's SOP.

Notes

(from: How to Buy a Franchise that is Right For You by Rabb)

Franchise fees are $500 to $40,000.

Franchise skim is 3% - 13% (but varies little within an industry: 3.5%- 5% for restaurants, for example).

Advertising fees of about the same.

There may also be restrictions on transfers.

Franchise agreements typcially last 10-25 years, but could be down to3 or for ever.

You often need to buy supplies from franchisor or approved vendors.

A Generic Franchisee

Generic Frachisee Employees

This section includes generic descriptions of different workers found infranchulets. (Remember that these are very different than headquartersstaff). These descriptions cover personality more than attributes or skills.

Owner

An owner ownes the franchulet.

Manager

A manager is in charge of the franchulet, for some period of time.

Supervisor

A supervisor is someone who is in charge of something.

Worker

A worker does one job at the franchulet. (The franchise will group severaltasks together, and call them one job).