What about Buying a Painting Franchise?

It seems to me that a lot of these painting franchises focus on taking people who don't know the industry and teaching them about it. If you already know the industry I'm not sure what they are offering except a name brand (which may or may not be known) and their business systems. Business systems are great but you have to ask yourself if you want to follow someone elses instructions on how to run your business.

I've looked into several franchises (mostly non-painting) and most of them seem like your just buying yourself a job working for someone else.

Also, some of them have crazy non-compete agreements. One I know of requires that you don't start another painting company for 3 years after the date in which you leave them. Crazy!