A franchise can be a great way to start your entry into self-employment -- and strong income. Yet, there are still risks -- such as with site locations and hiring employees -- and lots of upfront costs.

But there is another approach; that is, purchasing an existing franchise (which is known as a "resale"). What are some things to consider? Well, let's take a look:

Track Record: With some due diligence, you can determine whether a franchise is successful or not. Besides getting the financials, you can talk to customers as well as vendors.

This post is part of a series on some of the most memorable companies that have disappeared.

Inspired by what must have been a less than luxurious train ride from Buffalo to New York in the early 1860s, George Pullman founded the Pullman Palace Car Company in Illinois in 1867. The company had a long and illustrious business cycle that spanned more than a century. Starting from humble beginnings based solely upon the vision of one man , the company rose to grandeur via the railroad boom of the early 1900s. At one point, Pullman even owned it's own "company town." The town, called Pullman, was located 14 miles south of downtown Chicago and was home to nearly 9,000 men, women, and children at its peak under the control of Pullman.

As one would expect, just when things were in high gear for Pullman, the government intervened. In the interest of antitrust laws, Pullman Inc. was ordered by the Justice Department to divest itself of either the Pullman Company (operating) or the Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company (manufacturing). After three years of negotiation, the Pullman Company was sold to a railroad consortium for approximately $40 million. In much the same way, the Justice Department is making trouble on the rails again today.

The Pullman Co. didn't vanish as much as it was fractured and absorbed. It began with the 1944 sell off of passenger car operating rights and continuing through until 1987 when subway car manufacturing, performed under the name Pullman Technology, was sold to Candian conglomerate, Bombardier. The merger and acquisition history of Pullman from 1981 through today reads like a who's who of transportation, oil, engineering, and associated technologies. In fact, I believe that George Pullman would be amazed to discover that the original thread of the Pullman name was still active in manufacturing as late as 2004, when Pullman is reported to have been manufacturing "rubberized" automotive parts under the control of Tenneco Automotive.

Let us know in the comments what you miss about Pullman. And be sure to check out other Companies That Have Vanished.

This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and check out other Battle of the Brands posts.

Businesswise, it's no real competition between Subway and Quiznos. Subway, the number 1 sub sandwich chain, claims to have more than 29,000 locations in 86 countries, earning more than $11 billion in 2007. Quiznos, on the other hand, has more than 5,000 locations in 20 countries, earning $130 million in 2004, making it a distant number 2. In fact, Subway is the third largest fast-food chain globally after Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) (Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC, etc.) with 34,000 locations and McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), with 31,000 locations.

Both Subway and Quiznos are privately owned, franchise fast-food chains. While Quiznos is a limited liability company controlled by chairman Rick Schaden and his family, Subway is a wholly owned subsidiary of Doctor's Associates, Inc., a company founded in 1965 by Fred De Luca and Dr. Peter Buck specifically to oversee the Subway chain of restaurants.

Subway menus vary by store. For instance, its restaurants in Muslim countries serve Halal menu, and Subway has kosher restaurants in New York, Los Angeles, Kansas City, and a suburb of Cleveland. All locations feature submarine sandwiches, ranging from four-inch "mini subs" to its three-foot giant subs. Popular sandwiches include Turkey Breast, Italian BMT, and the Subway Club. All of Quiznos' sandwiches are served toasted, and its best-sellers include the Classic Italian, the Mesquite Chicken with Bacon, the Prime Rib Cheesesteak, the Chicken Carbonara. Last fall Quzinos introduced flatbread "sammies."

Several years ago, McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) had the exclusive franchise to provide fast food in Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) stores. Now, Subway is moving in [subscription required] according to the Wall Street Journal. Subway is "in 1,419 Wal-Marts compared with 1,021 McDonald's." And Subway is adding stores at the retailer much faster than McDonald's.

The Journal says that the food on the menu is a big part of the shift. Wal-Mart wants to offer healthy food to its customers as it makes the retailer seem more compassionate. Perhaps it looks bad for a fast food outlet to be pushing greasy hamburgers and French-fries on unsuspecting shoppers. And, all the soot from grilling gets on the ceilings.

There may be another explanation, though. McDonald's may be finding that Wal-Mart is not very profitable as a place to put its fast food stores. Subway recently picked up a location in Montana, but McDonald's had let the lease expire in that store.

McDonald's has built its current success on being open 24-hours a day, and serving breakfast at 5 AM. It has built its drive-in business because many people in a hurry don't want to leave their cars. None of these tactics work in Wal-Mart locations.

Subway may want to present its move into Wal-Mart as a big win, but it may just be taking over locations that McDonald's does not want.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

When I saw the headline in today's USA Today that Subway and Dunkin Donuts are going to start selling pizza, I threw up a little bit in my mouth. Just to be sure it's not a personal thing, I asked a few friends and we all reached the same conclusion: There's a small possibility that I would buy pizza at Subway, and zero chance I would buy it at Dunkin' Donuts. And especially not for breakfast.

McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) tried pizza years ago and left with its tail between its legs, but apparently Subway and Dunkin' still can't resist reaching for a piece of the $28.5 billion pizza pie.

Subway has been selling pizza at more than half of its locations since the summer, and would like more franchisees to do the same, but is not requiring it. According to the USA Today, "Subway's $2.99 thick-crust pizzas arrive frozen. They're defrosted, then baked in the toaster ovens in about 90 seconds. Meat toppings are a buck each. Veggies are free." Yum?

What do you think? Are my friends and I crazy, or are these forays into pizza ill-advised and destined to fail?

For a sport that just a few years ago was the darling of the blue-chippers, NASCAR has suddenly found love as hard to come by as a meth-addled octogenarian. After Anheuser-Busch (NYSE: BUD) dropped its 25-year long title sponsorship of the race promoter's second-tier series, Subway seemed a lock to take it on.

Now comes news that the restaurant's ardor for the series has cooled, and NASCAR has been forced to revisit formerly spurned suitors such as KFC (NYSE: YUM), Allstate (NYSE: ALL) and Dunkin' Donuts (D'OH!).

Along with the decline in interest has come a drop in price. The value of the sponsorship, once thought to run $30 million a year, has been halved. NASCAR is not the only loser in that drop; the original price included a mandatory ESPN ad buy of around $10 million, a requirement that has been relaxed.

According to Michael Smith in the Sporting News, Subway balked at the lack of exclusivity, a constant source of tension in the race industry where teams, tracks, OEMs and suppliers are also hustling sponsorships for every nut, bolt and beer cozy in the paddock.

NASCAR fans skew 60-40% male, slightly above the U.S. average in the 35-44 year of age category. They are overrepresented in the lower income categories, which would dampen the interest of luxury product companies. One interesting statistic is its popularity among America's fastest growing minority -- Hispanic fans have grown from 3.6% to 8.6% in only a few years. So how about the Taco Bell series? Or The Chipotle (NYSE: CMG) 500?