Great thread!
I'm going to go with cornutt,here. In the US, the only people who care about competitive dance dance are competitive dancers, who are far outnumbered by social dancers.So I wouldn't' necessarily hold out for a household name, if I were setting up a new studio. For most people I know, nobody in ballroom is a household name. lol.
I'd also be careful about assuming that a good business model = success. I know someone (and I'm sure a lot of us do) I know someone who owned a franchise that went under, even though that studio offered quality instruction.
I also think its important to clarify your own values. As someone mentioned earlier in the thread, a LOT of franchise studios have a staff comprised mainly of brand new, off the street teachers. Is that what you want to offer? Not judging one way or the other. Just posing a question. IMHO, the franchise model works because of the way it handles staffing,among other things. You can't take the parts of the model you like and throw away the parts you don't.
Phew, that was scary!
